Petteri Koponen Watch: Nothing to add edition

Where would we be without H.T.? In the dark on the progression of one Petteri Koponen. Here is the latest...

Right now it seems that Virtus Bologna has overcome the post-Christmas difficulties and once again transformed into a true basketball team. Last Saturday, Bologna stole its second consecutive Serie A victory, defeating Snaidero Udine 93-86 (39-36) in an away game.

Even though Snaidero Udine is dead last in Serie A, the team has a lot of potential. Ex-Boston Celtic Joseph Forte (23/3/4as) and Rashad Anderson (22/1) had a permission to shoot whenever they caught the ball and Udine made sure that Bologna didn't run away from them. The second half belonged to Earl Boykins (32/3/5as/4st), who put on an amazing show and sparked Virtus offence in a spectacular fashion. Sharrod Ford had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Bologna.

Against Udine, Petteri Koponen scored seven points, took two rebounds and stole the ball twice in 23 minutes. As usually, Petteri started the game as Virtus' point guard and he scored six of his points in the first five minutes of the game. In second half, Koponen primarily guarded Forte, who netted 8/18 of his field goal attempts.

This Wednesday, Virtus snatched an impressive victory over undefeated BC Kyiv in their FIBA EuroChallenge Cup additional round game. Bologna's defence in the first quarter was spectacular and after ten minutes, Bologna was leading the game 18-10. In third quarter it seemed that Kyiv would be able to frustrate Virtus with some spectacular defence of their own, but in the beginning of 4th, Earl Boykins and Keith Langford sparked Virtus to 60-52 lead.

Virtus won the game 68-64 (34-30) behind stabile performances by Langford (19/5), Boykins (15/4/6as/4st) and Reyshawn Terry (14/9). Brindley Wright and Kenan Bajmarovic had 13 points apiece for Kyiv. It's also worth noticing that Kyiv netted only 10 out of their 22 free throw attempts, practically giving away the victory.

Petteri Koponen struggled early on against Kyiv. He started the game, but played only 14 minutes, missing his only field goal attempt, turning the ball over once and having two personal fouls.

Virtus Bologna will play their next Serie A game this Saturday at home against Scavolini Pesaro, currently 10th in the League. Pesaro's prime weapons are US-Italian veteran guard Carlton Myers, point guard Ramel Curry and Panaman small forward Michael Hicks.


-The Sweet H.T.