Wikipedia

Petteri Koponen

Petteri Johannes Koponen (born 13 April 1988) is a Finnish professional basketball coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). Standing at 1.94 m (6 ft 4 1⁄2 in), he played both point guard and shooting guard positions. He was drafted as the 30th pick by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2007 NBA draft.

Petteri Koponen
Koponen with Finland at the EuroBasket 2017
New Zealand Breakers
PositionHead coach
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (1988-04-13) 13 April 1988 (age 36)
Helsinki, Finland
Listed height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
Listed weight88 kg (194 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2007: 1st round, 30th overall pick
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career2004–2022
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Coaching career2024–present
Career history
As player:
2004–2008Tapiolan Honka
2008–2012Virtus Bologna
2012–2016Khimki
2016–2018Barcelona
2018–2020Bayern Munich
2021Pallacanestro Reggiana
2021–2022Helsinki Seagulls
As coach:
2024–presentNew Zealand Breakers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Professional career

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Tapiolan Honka (2004–2008)

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Koponen with Honka in 2007

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 Finnish League championship-winning side in 2006–07. During the 2006–07 campaign Koponen averaged 12.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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 2007–08 Finnish League 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.[citation needed]

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.[1]

Virtus Bologna (2008–2012)

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In August 2008, Koponen signed a four-year deal with the Italian team Virtus Bologna.[2]

Khimki (2012–2016)

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On 31 May 2012, Koponen signed a three-year contract with the Russian team Khimki.[3] On 27 March 2015, he re-signed with Khimki for two more years.[4] With Khimki he won the 2014–15 EuroCup season, and was also named to the All-EuroCup First Team.[5][6]

Barcelona (2016–2018)

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Koponen with Barcelona 2018

On 16 August 2016, Koponen signed a three-year contract with Spanish powerhouse Barcelona.[7] One month later, he would suffer a traffic accident that caused him a head injury.[8] He parted ways with Barcelona on 29 June 2018.[9]

Bayern Munich (2018–2020)

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On 24 July 2018, Koponen signed a three-year contract with Bayern Munich of the German Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).[10]

Pallacanestro Reggiana (2021)

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On 12 January 2021, Koponen signed with Pallacanestro Reggiana of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[11]

Helsinki Seagulls (2021–2022)

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On 13 August 2021, Koponen returned to Finland in the Korisliiga, signing for Helsinki Seagulls.[12] He retired from his professional club career after the 2021–22 season due to consecutive hip problems.[13][14][15]

NBA draft rights

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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 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). On 27 June 2024, Koponen's rights were traded to the New York Knicks.[16]

National team career

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Koponen played for the Finnish national youth teams in 2004, 2005 and 2006.[17]

He debuted for the Finnish senior men's team in 2007. He played for Finland at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. He also represented his country at the EuroBasket 2011, EuroBasket 2013, EuroBasket 2015, EuroBasket 2017, and retired along with Shawn Huff after the EuroBasket 2022 tournament, where Finland historically advanced to the quarter-finals.[18][19][17]

Coaching career

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Between 2022 and 2024, Koponen worked as a junior coach in the EuroLeague Next Generation invitational tournament and was with the coaching staff of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky in Finland.[20]

Koponen joined the coaching staff of the San Antonio Spurs for the 2024 NBA Summer League.[20]

On 4 July 2024, Koponen was named the head coach of the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) on a two-year deal.[21] Koponen led Breakers to a flying start in the league, and at the start of November after the 113–79 away win over Melbourne United, they were sitting in the top spot with a 6–2 record. The away win against Melbourne marked also the team's first away victory at the John Cain Arena since 2018.[22]

Career statistics

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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

EuroLeague

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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 Khimki 24 7 19.5 .426 .381 .879 1.6 2.3 .5 .0 8.5 7.8
2016–17 Barcelona 27 3 22.6 .429 .462 .915 1.7 1.9 .7 .0 10.1 8.9
2017–18 Barcelona 29 9 20.2 .491 .511 .938 1.6 1.5 .5 .0 7.9 7.3
2018–19 Bayern München 30 3 18.3 .516 .468 .923 1.6 1.9 .3 .0 9.0 8.8
2019–20 Bayern München 24 10 17.1 .450 .500 .765 1.2 1.5 .2 .0 6.8 4.9
Career 155 37 19.1 .463 .462 .901 1.5 1.8 .4 .0 8.3 7.5

EuroCup

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† Denotes season in which Koponen won the EuroCup
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2013–14 Khimki 18 3 27.2 .500 .471 .889 2.8 2.8 1.1 .0 11.3 12.8
2014–15† Khimki 24 10 27.1 .532 .454 .700 2.9 3.3 .9 .0 13.5 15.0
Career 42 13 27.2 .520 .462 .776 2.9 3.1 1.0 .0 12.6 14.0

National team

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* Led the tournament
Team Tournament Pos. GP PPG RPG APG
Finland EuroBasket 2011 9th
8
13.3
1.9
3.1
EuroBasket 2013 9th
8
13.3
3.4
4.8
2014 FIBA World Cup 22nd
5
15.8
3.0
5.8*
EuroBasket 2015 16th
6
11.5
2.0
6.0
EuroBasket 2017 11th
6
13.2
2.5
6.3
EuroBasket 2022 7th
7
5.4
0.0
2.6

Coaching record

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Team Year G W L W–L% Result
New Zealand Breakers 2024–25 8 6 2 .571
Career 8 6 2 .571

References

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  1. ^ Bayless, Koponen lead Blazers to Summer League win
  2. ^ Petteri Koponen Signs with Virtus Bologna
  3. ^ Petteri Koponen is a new BC Khimki player
  4. ^ Petteri Koponen extends with Khimki for two more years
  5. ^ Khimki Moscow Region pockets second Eurocup crown!
  6. ^ 2014-15 All-Eurocup first, second teams announced
  7. ^ "Petteri Koponen signed with Barcelona". EuroHoops. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Petteri Koponen under observation following traffic accident". FC Barcelona. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Agreement for the release of Vezenkov, Diagné and Koponen | FC Barcelona". FC Barcelona. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  10. ^ "Bayern signs 3-point specialist Petteri Koponen". FCB Basketball. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  11. ^ "Petteri Koponen (ex-Bayern) is a newcomer at Reggio Emilia". Eurobasket. January 12, 2021. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "Nyt se on virallista: Petteri Koponen saapuu Seagullsiin!". helsinkiseagulls.com (in Finnish). 13 August 2021.
  13. ^ Petteri Koponen, 34, avautuu kivuliaasta sairaudestaan – tuntee heti sängystä noustessaan, jos edessä on vaikeampi päivä, Ilta-Sanomat, 4 September 2022
  14. ^ ”Minulla on 70-vuotiaan lonkat” – Lääkäri lausui Petteri Koposelle lohduttomat sanat, ja pian kutsui leikkauspöytä, Helsingin Sanomat, 6 December 2023
  15. ^ Uransa vuosi sitten lopettaneella Petteri Koposella on edessään tekonivelleikkaus – "Nyt ollaan siinä pisteessä", Turun Sanomat, 1 August 2023
  16. ^ Price, Dwain (June 27, 2024). "Mavs make draft-day trade for forward Melvin Ajinca". mavs.com. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  17. ^ a b "Petteri Koponen". FIBA. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  18. ^ Kahden legendan tarina suomalaisessa koripallossa päättyy – Shawn Huff ja Petteri Koponen poistuvat näyttämöltä: "Ei silloin edes tajunnut", mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 11 September 2022
  19. ^ Jopa Espanjan tähdet kunnioittivat Susijengin legendoja tyylikkäällä eleellä – Petteri Koponen myönsi pelkäävänsä tulevaa, Yle, 13 September 2022
  20. ^ a b Hepojärvi, Harri (24 June 2024). "Petteri Koponen sai töitä NBA-seuralta". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  21. ^ "BNZ Breakers Name New Head Coach". nzbreakers.basketball. 4 July 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  22. ^ Petteri Koposen valmennusura alkanut huikeasti – tuorein murskavoitto sai suomalaisen korisikonin sanattomaksi, Yle, 4 November 2024
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