Simone Fontecchio

Simone Fontecchio (born December 9, 1995) is an Italian professional basketball player who plays as a small forward for Alba Berlin of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

Simone Fontecchio
Alba Berlin
PositionSmall forward
LeagueBasketball Bundesliga
EuroLeague
Personal information
Born (1995-12-09) December 9, 1995
Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy
NationalityItalian
Listed height2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight95 kg (209 lb)
Career information
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2016Virtus Bologna
2016–2019Olimpia Milano
2017–2018→Vanoli Cremona
2019–2020Reggio Emilia
2020–presentAlba Berlin
Career highlights and awards

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

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

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.[14]

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.[15]

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.[16]

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.[14] 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.[17]

Career statistics

Sources: Serie A[18]

Lega Basket Serie A
Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012-13 SAIE3 Virtus Bologna Serie A 1212.832.4%22.2%80.0%1.40.20.40.22.7
2013-14 Granarolo Virtus Bologna Serie A 2515.442.6%34.5%75.0%1.10.20.40.22.7
2014-15 Granarolo Virtus Bologna Serie A 3024.538.4%29.2%65.9%2.31.50.90.27.4
2015-16 Obiettivo Lavoro Virtus Bologna Serie A 3027.539.7%32.8%83.8%3.51.91.00.19.2
2016-17 EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Serie A 2812.149.5%42.2%71.4%1.60.80.40.14.6
2017-18 EA7 Emporio Armani Milano Serie A 47.528.6%20.0%-0.30.00.30.11.3
Vanoli Cremona Serie A 2323.642.2%38.5%80.6%3.10.80.90.41.3
2018-19 AX Armani Exchange Milano Serie A 341244.3%37.5%85.7%1.10.30.30.24.0

Euroleague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2016–17 EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 10211.743.3%41.2%0.0%1.50.80.50.13.31.9
2017–18 AX Armani Exchange Olimpia 202.00.0%0.0%0.0%0.00.00.00.00.00.0
2018–19 AX Armani Exchange Olimpia 500.80.0%0.0%0.0%0.00.00.00.0-1.20.0

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

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

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).[19][20]

He has not yet participated in an official game for the senior national team.[21]

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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. Kontos, Dimitris (13 July 2014). "Italy's Fontecchio in perpetual motion". FIBA Europe. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  15. Mills, Danny (18 May 2011). "The best of Ragusa (X): Simone Fontecchio". Eurohopes.com. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  16. 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.
  17. "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)
  18. "Fontecchio Simone - Statistiche individuali" [Simone Fontecchio - Total statistics]. Lega Basket (in Italian). Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  19. "2014 U20 European Championship – Simone Fontecchio.", FIBA Europe. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.
  20. "2014 U20 European Championship – Simone Fontecchio.", FIBA. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.
  21. "Simone Fontecchio.", Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro. Retrieved on 29 April 2015.(in Italian)
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