Simone Fontecchio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simone Fontecchio
2021-06-01 ALBA Berlin gegen ratiopharm Ulm (Play-off-Halbfinale 3, Basketball-Bundesliga 2020-21) by Sandro Halank–140.jpg
No. 20 – Bitci Baskonia
PositionSmall forward
LeagueLiga ACB
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1995-12-09) 9 December 1995 (age 26)
Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy
NationalityItalian
Listed height2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight95 kg (209 lb)
Career information
NBA draft2017 / Undrafted
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2016Virtus Bologna
2016–2019Olimpia Milano
2017–2018→ Vanoli Cremona
2019–2020Reggio Emilia
2020–2021Alba Berlin
2021–presentBaskonia
Career highlights and awards

Simone Fontecchio (born 9 December 1995) is an Italian professional basketball player for Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. He plays at the small forward position.

Youth career[]

Fontecchio participated in an array of youth tournaments:

  1. 2011 Jordan Brand Classic International Tour game in London (not to be confused with the International Game of the same tournament)
  2. 2012 Albert Schweitzer Tournament
  3. 2012 Basketball Without Borders Europe
  4. 2012-13 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament Rome tournament.[1]

Besides playing for Italy (see International career), he notably won the Italian Under 17 championship in 2011-12 and the Under 19 championship the same season and in 2012-13, all for Virtus Bologna.[2]

Professional career[]

Fontecchio was promoted from the Virtus U19 to the senior side in 2012-13, alternating between the two during the season. He played a symbolic minute in LBA on 4 November 2011 before posting his first genuine first division stat sheet, missing his five shots for three rebounds and a steal, on 30 December.[3]

After an active youth career (see Youth career) and a professional debut at only 17, there was talk of him going to the United States to play high school and later on College basketball, however he stayed loyal to Virtus and signed a 5-year professional contract with the team in June 2013, his parents had to be present as he was still a minor at the time.[4]

After twice being selected to take part in the league All Star Game (2014 and 2015),[5] he was voted Best Player Under 22 in May 2015.[6] That season would also see his first participation in the playoffs, scoring 10.3 points and grabbing 3.3 rebounds per game as Virtus were swept by title holders Olimpia Milano.

Fontecchio declared for the 2015 NBA draft on 25 April as an early entrant, two years before being automatically eligible in 2017.[7] He attended a draft workout with the Boston Celtics in June 2015,[8] whilst they declaredly considered picking in the second round, he withdrew his candidacy on 16 June 2015.[9]

After an unsatisfying 2018-19 season with Olimpia Milano, where Fontecchio played in average only 0:48 minutes Euroleague[10] and 2.8 minutes in Serie A,[11] he signs a two years contract with his former team Virtus Bologna with coach Aleksandar Đorđević.

On 18 July 2019 he signed with Reggio Emilia in the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[12]

On 7 July 2020 he signed with Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).[13]

On 9 July 2021 he signed with Baskonia of the Liga ACB.[14]

International career[]

Fontecchio has played for the under age teams of Italy since turning up for the U16's in the 2011 European Championship (10th place). Since then, he was involved with the U18's in the 2012 European Championship (7th place) and 2013 European Championship (10th place, best scorer for Italy) and the U20's in the 2014 European Championship (10th place).[15][16]

Fontecchio participated to the 2020 Summer Olympics basketball tournament with Italy, reaching the quarterfinals. He was the leading scorer in Italy's 82–92 win over Germany, scoring 20 points, also grabbing 4 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists and stealing 3 balls.[17] He was also Italy's top performer in this game, with a 21 efficiency rate.[17] He was again the leading scorer in Italy's 83–86 loss to eventual bronze medalist Australia, with 22 points. In the third and last game of their group stage, Italy defeated Nigeria 80–71, and Fontecchio tied with Pajola for assists leader. Italy lost 75–84 to eventual silver medalist France in quarterfinals. In this game, Fontecchio was the leading scorer with 23 points. By the end of the tournament he was ranked among the players who "should be on NBA radars".[18][19]

Player profile[]

Fontecchio is a good sized small forward that has in the past played as a Shooting guard, he has a solid though developing all-round game and is active off the ball.[20]

More of a threat from outside the paint, where he can unleash his technically sound if inconsistent jump shot, he struggles more on post play due to a lack of upper body strength. Despite this, he is quite athletic, particularly in leg strength and can run the lanes well in offense or use his length to get past his defender, however he doesn't use these assets enough in rebounding. On the defensive end he always puts in the effort, not afraid the mark the opposition's star, he can stay in front of smaller, quicker players with his length but needs to be more aggressive.[21]

All in all he is a promising player at only 19 and has the work ethic and physical attributes to succeed despite being far from a finished product as of 2015.[22]

Personal life[]

He comes from a sporting family, his mother Malì Pomilio played for Italy and won two European titles for AS Vicenza in basketball, he cites her as an influence in his career choice.[20] His father Daniele (in Italian) was a professional hurdler whilst his grandfather was also a basketball player, as is his older brother Luca who has played in the lower divisions after also coming through the youth ranks of Virtus.

Fontecchio moved to Bologna from his native Pescara at the age of 14, living in shared accommodation with other Virtus youth players.[23]

Career statistics[]

Sources: Serie A[24]

Lega Basket Serie A[]

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012-13 SAIE3 Virtus Bologna Serie A 12 12.8 32.4% 22.2% 80.0% 1.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 2.7
2013-14 Granarolo Virtus Bologna Serie A 25 15.4 42.6% 34.5% 75.0% 1.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 2.7
2014-15 Granarolo Virtus Bologna Serie A 30 24.5 38.4% 29.2% 65.9% 2.3 1.5 0.9 0.2 7.4
2015-16 Obiettivo Lavoro Virtus Bologna Serie A 30 27.5 39.7% 32.8% 83.8% 3.5 1.9 1.0 0.1 9.2
2016-17 EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Serie A 28 12.1 49.5% 42.2% 71.4% 1.6 0.8 0.4 0.1 4.6
2017-18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Serie A 4 7.5 28.6% 20.0% - 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.1 1.3
Vanoli Cremona Serie A 23 23.6 42.2% 38.5% 80.6% 3.1 0.8 0.9 0.4 10.1
2018-19 AX Armani Exchange Milano Serie A 34 12 44.3% 37.5% 85.7% 1.1 0.3 0.3 0.2 4.0

Euroleague[]

Legend[]

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
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2016–17 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 10 2 11.7 .433 .412 .0 1.5 0.8 0.5 0.1 3.3 1.9
2017–18 AX Armani Exchange Olimpia 2 0 2.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 0.0
2018–19 AX Armani Exchange Olimpia 5 0 0.8 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 -1.2
2020–21 Alba 29 24 23.2 .476 .388 .886 3.4 1.6 0.9 0.2 10.6 10.1

References[]

  1. ^ "Fontecchio Simone". EuroLeague. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Simone Fontecchio". Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna (in Italian). Archived from the original on 30 October 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Legabasket Serie A - 13° Gionarta Andata ( Banco di Sardegna Sassari - SAIE3 Bologna)" [Legabasket Serie A - 13th round]. Lega Basket (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Fontecchio firma per 5 anni, il suo futuro è bianconero" [Fontecchio signs for 5 years, his future is black and white]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 13 June 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  5. ^ Aquino, Luca (17 December 2014). "Fontecchio all'All Star Game" [Fontecchio at the All Star Game]. Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). RCS MediaGroup. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. ^ Aquino, Luca (8 May 2015). "Virtus, Fontecchio nominato miglior giovane dell'anno" [Virtus, Fontecchio named best young player of the year]. Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). RCS MediaGroup. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. ^ Aquino, Luca (25 April 2015). "Virtus, Fontecchio si dichiara al draft Nba" [Virtus, Fontecchio declares himself for the NBA draft]. Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). RCS MediaGroup. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  8. ^ Snow, Taylor C. (10 June 2015). "Draft Workout: Pat Connaughton puts baseball on hold to pursue NBA career". NBA. Waltham (Massachusetts): Boston Celtics. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Fontecchio, niente draft Gallinari allenato da Malone" [Fontecchio, no draft. Gallinari trained by Malone]. Corriere dello Sport – Stadio (in Italian). New York. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  10. ^ "2018-19 Euroleague Stats".
  11. ^ "2018-2019 LBA stats" (in Italian).
  12. ^ "Reggio Emilia signs Simone Fontecchio". Sportando. July 18, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
  13. ^ "Alba Berlin officially signs Simone Fontecchio". Sportando. July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  14. ^ "Simone Fontecchio new baskonista for the next three seasons". Sportando. July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  15. ^ "2014 U20 European Championship – Simone Fontecchio.", FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.
  16. ^ "2014 U20 European Championship – Simone Fontecchio.", FIBA. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.
  17. ^ a b "Germany vs. Italy". FIBA. Archived from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  18. ^ Urbina, Frank. "Five players from the Olympics who should be on NBA radars". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Mercato NBA: cinque giocatori finiti sotto attenzione dopo le partite della Olimpiadi". Sky Sport. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  20. ^ a b Kontos, Dimitris (13 July 2014). "Italy's Fontecchio in perpetual motion". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  21. ^ Mills, Danny (18 May 2011). "The best of Ragusa (X): Simone Fontecchio". Eurohopes.com. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  22. ^ Labanti, Daniele (21 April 2015). "Virtus, il cerchio magico di Simone Fontecchio" [Virtus, the magic circle of Simone Fontecchio]. Corriere di Bologna (in Italian). RCS MediaGroup. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Basketball, Fontecchio from the Virtus school to the A: "The Under 19 title: the most beautiful thing".", La Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan, 23 October 2014. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.(in Italian)
  24. ^ "Fontecchio Simone - Statistiche individuali" [Simone Fontecchio - Total statistics]. Lega Basket (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2015.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""