Petteri Koponen

Petteri Koponen

Petteri Koponen playing for Honka in 2007
No. 25 – FC Barcelona Lassa
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League Liga ACB
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1988-04-13) 13 April 1988
Helsinki, Finland
Nationality Finnish
Listed height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight 88 kg (194 lb)
Career information
High school Mäkelänrinne (Helsinki)
NBA draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 30th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career 2004–present
Career history
2004–2008 Tapiolan Honka
2008–2012 Virtus Bologna
2012–2016 Khimki
2016–present Barcelona
Career highlights and awards

Petteri Johannes Koponen (born 13 April 1988) is a Finnish professional basketball player for FC Barcelona Lassa of the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. Standing at 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in), he plays both point guard and shooting guard positions. He was drafted as the 30th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2007 NBA Draft, and his NBA rights are currently held by the Dallas Mavericks.

Professional career

Tapiolan Honka (2004–08)

His first club was Malmi Super-Koris ("Malmi super-basketball"), from where he joined one of Finland's top clubs, Espoo Honka in 2004–05 season. Under the guidance of coach Mihailo Pavićević he quickly developed into a key component of Honka's 2006–07 Finnish Championship-winning side. During the 2006–07 campaign Koponen averaged 12.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. The number of assists may sound small, but in Finland assists are harder to come by than in the NBA because of the difference in FIBA rules,[1] and the league leader had an average of only 5 assists.

Koponen played in the World All-Star team at the Nike Hoop Summit in 2007. He recorded 7 points and 6 assists with only one turnover, playing against future NBA super star, MVP Derrick Rose.

Koponen began his mandatory military service in the Lahti Military Academy in October 2007, participating in a special military service built for professional athletes such as Finnish tennis player Jarkko Nieminen. The Finnish League 2007–08 season began slowly, with Koponen trying to adapt to the military recruit training. Koponen struggled a lot in the opening month of the season, but found his rhythm in November, recording 21.4 points, 4.1 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals a game while draining 55.6% of his 2-point attempts, 45.8% of his 3-point attempts and 81.0% of his free throws. In the first game of December, Koponen played through a concussion and led the Honka Playboys to an overtime victory over Team Componenta, scoring 32 points, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out five assists. After the game, the concussion forced Koponen to be sidelined for a week.

On 14 July 2008, in the NBA Summer League game against the Washington Wizards, Koponen scored 19 points, shooting 4-for-6 on three-point attempts.[2]

Virtus Bologna (2008–12)

In August 2008 he signed a four-year deal with the Italian team Virtus Bologna.[3]

Khimki (2012–16)

On 31 May 2012, he signed a three-year contract with the Russian team Khimki.[4]

On 27 March 2015, he re-signed with Khimki for two more years.[5] With Khimki he won the 2014–15 EuroCup season, and was also named to the All-EuroCup First Team.[6][7]

Barcelona (2016–present)

On 16 August 2016, Koponen signed a three-year contract with Spanish powerhouse Barcelona.[8] One month later, he would suffer a traffic accident that caused him a head injury.[9]

NBA draft rights

On 28 June 2007 Koponen was taken 30th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was the final first-round pick in the draft. Philadelphia then traded Koponen to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for their number 42 pick, Vanderbilt University swingman Derrick Byars, and cash considerations. On 23 June 2011 Koponen's rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for the Mavericks' second round pick in the 2011 draft (57).

Finnish national team

The summer of 2006 was Koponen's coming-out party. First, he played very well in the FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship B-level competition, leading the Finnish team to third place by losing just one game. After that he was promoted to the senior men's Finnish national team. He showed no fear as he played like a veteran and got to play quite a lot. His best game was against the small country Luxembourg national basketball team; he scored 19 points and handed out 7 assists.

Koponen was a main contributor in the Finnish men's national team in the summer of 2007. Finland earned a spot in European Division A after crushing the Romanian national basketball team in a deciding game by a score of 111-61. Koponen averaged 10.6 points, 2.7 assists, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 21.3 minutes a game with the national team. Just days before the national team campaign tipped off, Koponen announced he would return to the Honka Playboys for one more season.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2012–13 Khimki 21 5 16.2 .465 .429 .957 1.0 2.1 .1 .1 6.5 6.6
2015–16 24 7 19.5 .426 .381 .879 1.6 2.3 .5 .0 8.5 7.8
Career 45 12 18.0 .441 .398 .911 1.3 2.2 .3 .1 7.6 7.2

Player profile

Koponen is known for his agility and passing skills. He is at his best in transition, being equally adept at distributing the basketball and attacking the basket.

References

  1. ↑ PortlandTrailBlazers.com official site of NBA team Portland Trail Blazers explaining the difference between FIBA assists and NBA assists.
  2. ↑ Bayless, Koponen lead Blazers to Summer League win
  3. ↑ Petteri Koponen Signs with Virtus Bologna
  4. ↑ Petteri Koponen is a new BC Khimki player
  5. ↑ Petteri Koponen extends with Khimki for two more years
  6. ↑ Khimki Moscow Region pockets second Eurocup crown!
  7. ↑ 2014-15 All-Eurocup first, second teams announced
  8. ↑ "Petteri Koponen signed with Barcelona". EuroHoops. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Petteri Koponen under observation following traffic accident". FC Barcelona. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
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