Petteri Koponen Watch: Out of Rhythm Edition

Hippo logs another update on The Finnagler . Coming off of last week's high , Koponen had a little trouble finding his rhythm .

Fresh off last week's 24-point performance, Petteri Koponen knew what to expect last Saturday when his team, Virtus Bologna, took the team bus to Cantù to play against Italian Serie A team NGC Medical.

Cantù, one of the best defensive teams in the league, had prepared for Saturday's game very thoroughly and used their ultra-aggressive man-to-man defense to slow down Virtus Bologna and force them to take bad shots. Virtus' number one gunners Koponen, LeRoy Hurd, and David Moss were guarded extremely well and the usually reliable trio netted only a total of 25 points in a 63-72 (35-37) loss.

Virtus was desperately out of rhythm in the first quarter, with Cantu taking a 26-10 lead in front of a jubilant home crowd. Cantu was able to control the tempo in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but Virtus mastered the art of defending a half- court offense better than the home team. Koponen snatched four steals in just a couple of minutes, bringing Virtus within two at the half.

Even though Virtus seemed to recover from their slump early in the game, the opening of the third quarter didn't begin too well. Koponen turned the ball over twice in a row and snatched his third foul in the middle of the third, forcing Bologna coach Lino Lardo to replace him with seldom-used backup PG Riccardo Moraschini. Koponen sat on the bench for the next ten minutes and when he finally got back on court (five5 minutes remaining, Cantu leading 54-59), his presence was enough to pull Bologna within one, 63-64.

Alas, just when Koponen was getting back in the groove, he picked up his fourth foul with three minutes remaining in the game. Cantu went on a 6-0 run, and when Koponen returned to action, he immediately was forced to foul Cantu's Jerry Green, who calmly stepped to the charity stripe and sank both free throws. Final numbers, 63-72 Cantu.

Because of foul trouble, Koponen was limited to only 23 minutes in Saturday's game. He was also limited to only four field goal attempts (2-4). Koponen made most of his points from the free throw line (6-7) and also registered a high number of steals (4), but also turned the ball over (3 times) in critical moments. It must be recognized that Cantu guards Jerry Green, Othyus Jeffers and Manuchar Markoishvili did a very good job keeping Virtus' guards Koponen, Scoonie Penn, and Dusan Vukcevic in check with switching screens, trapping, and pressuring.

Virtus will return home next week to face traditional Benetton Treviso. Americans Gary Neal and Charles Judson Wallace form Treviso's backbone, but point guard Daniel Hackett, seven-footers Sandro Nicevic and Donatas Motiejunas, and guard Davor Kus are also worth noticing. Virtus has won six out of first 10 games and is standing sixth in Serie A.

NGC Medical Cantu - Virtus Bologna 63-72 (26-10, 37-35, 56-47)

Cantu: Benjamin Ortner 16/7, Nicolas Mazzarino 12/2, Michele Mian 11/1.

Virtus: Michele Maggioli 14/5, David Moss 11/3/5ast/5bl, Petteri Koponen 10/2/4stl.

Petteri Koponen: Min 23 Pts 10 2pt 2/3 3pt 0/1 Ft 6/7 Reb 2 St 4 To 3 Pf 5 Start (-14)

-Hippo