Where does the Finn fit?

New Blazer Petteri Koponen hascompetition at point, plenty of promise

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Jul 13, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (5 Reader comments)

Petteri Koponen has played three games in summer league with the Blazers, although not at his preferred position.

JESSE D. GARRABRANT / GETTY IMAGES

LAS VEGAS — Back home in Finland, Petteri Koponen is a household name among sports fans.

“He has a really big reputation,” says Mihailo Pavicevic, Koponen’s coach the past three seasons. “It’s unbelievable. Everybody follows what he’s doing every step. He’s the biggest name in sports right now in Finland.”

Put him in the NBA summer league, though, and Koponen is just another player filling a roster spot — albeit one with plenty of promise.

The Trail Blazers liked the 6-4, 195-pound point guard well enough to take him with the 30th pick on June 28, making him the first player in his country’s history to be chosen in the first round.

“It’s a big thing for Finnish basketball,” says Koponen, 19. “I hope that means big things for the future of the sport in my country, that kids will start to play basketball more instead of hockey at a young age.”

Only one native of Finland has played in the NBA — Hanno Mottola, a second-round pick who played sparingly in two seasons (2000-02) with the Atlanta Hawks. Mottola, a 6-11 forward, averaged 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds. But Koponen, who is slick with the ball and carries himself like an athlete, has the potential to do better.

“He has a chance,” Portland coach Nate McMillan says after watching Koponen play in the Blazers’ first three summer-league games. “He has length, speed, good athleticism. He’s done pretty well at the defensive end. If he gets his shot down, he should be at least a rotation player in the NBA at some point.”

Before the draft, Sports Illustrated tabbed Koponen as one of three sleepers — a probable second-round pick with a long-term NBA future.

An anonymous NBA scout says: “He’s so good, if he were coming out of high school in America, he’d be on the cover of SI. I think he’s going to be a seriously good NBA player. He has size, he can shoot and he can fly. He reminds me of Danny Ainge — fearless and hard-nosed.”

The Blazers sent an estimated $2 million along with a second-round pick to Philadelphia for Koponen, who helped his team to the Finnish League title last year while also playing a key role on his country’s senior national team.

“We thought Petteri was a nice prospect,” Portland General Manager Kevin Pritchard says. “Because he’s an international player, we have options with him. We wanted to see how he played in summer league.”

In three games, Koponen has averaged only nine minutes. He went scoreless in the first two games, but in Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, he knocked down a pair of jump shots — including a 3-pointer. He finished with five points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

Problem is, Portland’s summer-league roster has three point guards — Sergio Rodriguez, rookie Taurean Green and Koponen — and only Martell Webster at shooting guard. So Koponen is getting most of his minutes in games at the 2, though he saw extensive duty at the point in a scrimmage against two teams Monday.

“I understand the team’s position, but Petteri is playing out of position,” Pavicevic says. “He didn’t play one second of 2 guard the past three years.”

“Not so good,” says Koponen, when asked how he thinks it has gone for him. “I haven’t gotten a chance to play my position. It’s been hard. I’ve had to adjust my game to that. When I got to play point guard in the scrimmage, it went better. But it’s OK. It’s better to play the 2 than to sit on the bench.”

Pritchard says Koponen reminds him of Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich, “though he has a long way to get to where Kirk is. Petteri has really good feet, he competes, he knows how to play. He’s like just a freshman in college, but we feel he has great upside.”

Mom put the ball in his hands

Koponen was raised by a single mother, Sonja Koponen, who played in the Finnish women’s pro league and got him started in the game at age 7 (he also played soccer).

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