By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
“I want to win everything,” is Petteri Koponen’s ambition with Barcelona. During his official presentation by the club, the international Finnish combo guard discussed how he feels about becoming a part of the Catalans, his cooperation with Tyrese Rice and the growth of his country’s national team.
“It’s a great honor to be a part of this club”, he said. “Everything goes pretty well and everyone that works here is fantastic. We have a lot of job ahead of us, but we are already on the right track.”
The 28-year old guard became the second player that moved to Barcelona from Khimki Moscow after Tyrese Rice. Their cooperation has been highlighted as producing one highly effective offensive force. “We can Indeed we can play very well when we are together on court, since we have a pretty good chemistry. We can play with or without the ball. It depends on what the coach wants.”
He then added that: “As for me, I can play in both positions, something that I have already done with Rice in Khimki. Depending on the opponent, I can play as a point or a shooting guard. It’s an advantage that I have.”
Young players from Barcelona B’ have been helping him and his teammates in the training sessions. “They have a lot of talent. And a bright future if they continue working like that”.
Koponen has also propelled the Finnish national team to reaching new milestones over the last years. “Some time ago it was a dream to play against the best. Now, we have played in three Eurobasket tournaments and the 2014 World Cup. There were 10.000 Finnish fans in Bilbao. You will definitely see many people from Finland in Palau Blaugrana or Camp Nou!”
Barcelona GM Rodrigo de la Fuente commented on his team’s new acquisition. “A quite versatile player that can be a great weapon in our perimeter game.”