Almost 27-year-old rookie (whom he will celebrate on Friday) with around sixty Euroleague matches and more than twenty selections for the national team, including very good appearances at the last Euros and Olympics (19 points on average), Simone Fontecchio n Hadn’t really had the opportunity to shine since his arrival in the NBA last fall.
Apart from a game with 13 points in 16 minutes in a sad defeat against the Rockets, the Italian winger was rather reduced to the bare minimum, on the Jazz bench. Until last night!
Author of 18 points, including the winning basket (a dunk) to defeat the Warriors after an incredible return, Fontecchio had the honors of the post-match interview. And this, under the eyes of Gianmarco Pozzeccothe Italian coach, present in Salt Lake City.
“It was crazy. We played incredibly on the last possessions of the match. We managed to intercept the ball and Malik made the pass to me under the circle. He’s my guy.” he said with a big smile. “I try to stay ready. It’s not easy but every time the coach calls my name I try to do my best to help the team. »
“I was ready to stay focused and accept these difficult times”
Signed for 3 million dollars a season, and for the next two seasons, Fontecchio is clearly a good deal for the Jazz, especially since he is only just starting his career across the Atlantic. At 2m03 for 95kg, the Italian is a big guy, and he is not in the mold of the white shooter type Duncan Robinson or Steve Novak who are only good at shooting. He is more Bojan Bogdanovic in style.
“The NBA is a completely different world, I thoroughly enjoy every moment of this experience. Of course, I already have some experience too, with ten years of basketball behind me. But the NBA is different. I just try to adapt as best I can and the guys help me a lot with that on a daily basis. »
Well aware that this kind of evening will be more the exception than the norm, at least for his rookie season, the former Alba Berlin and Vitoria is in any case enjoying his first major career record. He also brought the match ball home, indicating that he was going to place it out of reach of his little girl, who would be too tempted to play with it…
“I was just happy to be able to join this franchise and to be able to discover the world of the NBA,” he concluded at the end of the press conference by mentioning his expectations before arriving in Utah. “I knew it was going to be difficult, that there was going to be a period of adaptation with a different style of play, different rules. But I was ready to stay focused and accept these difficult times. »
| Simone Fontecchio | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2022-23 | UTH | 15 | 9 | 38.8 | 40.0 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.9 |
| Total | 15 | 9 | 38.8 | 40.0 | 66.7 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 3.9 | |
