Hanno Möttölä Explained

Hanno Möttölä
Height Ft:6
Height In:10
Weight Lbs:250
Birth Date:1976 9, df=y
Birth Place:Helsinki, Finland
College:Utah (1996–2000)
Draft Year:2000
Draft Round:2
Draft Pick:40
Draft Team:Atlanta Hawks
Career Number:13
Career Position:Power forward
Career Start:1994
Career End:2014
Years1:1994-1996
Team1:Helsingin NMKY
Years2:
Team2:Atlanta Hawks
Years3:2002–2003
Team3:TAU Cerámica
Years4:2003–2004
Team4:Skipper Bologna
Years5:2004–2005
Team5:Scavolini Pesaro
Years6:2005–2006
Team6:Dynamo Moscow
Years7:2006–2007
Team7:Žalgiris Kaunas
Years8:2007–2008
Team8:Aris Thessaloniki
Years9:2009–2012
Team9:Torpan Pojat
Years10:2013
Team10:Torpan Pojat
Cyears1:2014–present
Cteam1:HBA-Märsky
Cyears2:2019–present
Cteam2:Finland (assistant)
Highlights:

Hanno Aleksanteri Möttölä (born 9 September 1976) is a Finnish basketball coach and a former professional basketball player. He is currently working as a head coach of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky, and an assistant coach of Finland national team. A power forward, Möttölä played for the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA), becoming the first player from Finland to play in the NBA.

Möttölä was named in the Utah Athletics Hall of Fame of the University of Utah in September 2023.[1]

College career

Möttölä attended the University of Utah, in the United States, where he played college basketball under head coach Rick Majerus. He was a starter on the Utah Utes team that played in the final of the 1998 NCAA national championship tournament, which they lost to Kentucky.

Professional career

After college, Möttölä was selected in the second round, with the 40th overall pick, in the 2000 NBA draft, by the Atlanta Hawks. He played two seasons in the NBA with the Hawks. He played in all 82 games during his sophomore (and final) season. His final NBA game was on April 17, 2002, in a 81–89 loss to the Boston Celtics where he recorded 1 steal and 2 rebounds.

After his time with the Hawks, he returned to Europe to play in the EuroLeague. He played in Spain with TAU Cerámica of the Liga ACB, where he suffered an ankle injury. Then he played in Italy with Skipper Bologna (in the 2003–04 season, his team reached the Italian League finals and EuroLeague Final). He also played in Italy with Scavolini Pesaro (from 2004 to 2005).

Möttölä also played in the Russian Super League with Dynamo Moscow, in the Lithuanian LKL League with Žalgiris Kaunas, and in the Greek Basket League (GBL) with Aris, after signing with the team on 26 July 2007.[2]

Möttölä announced his retirement from playing basketball on 26 September 2008,[3] but decided to return to basketball just nine months later.[4] In September 2009, Möttölä signed with the Finnish team Torpan Pojat. He played in the team for four seasons, during which the team was the runner-up in the Finnish League championship (2009–10), in the Finnish Cup (2010–11), and finished in third-place in Finnish League (2011–12).[5]

International career

Möttölä was a long-time member of the senior Finnish national basketball team. With Finland, he played at the 1995 EuroBasket, the 2011 EuroBasket, the 2013 EuroBasket, and the 2014 FIBA World Cup.[6]

Coaching career

After ending his playing career, Möttölä has worked as the head coach of Helsinki Basketball Academy team HBA-Märsky in second-tier Koripallon I-divisioona, and an assistant coach of Finland national team since 2019.

In May 2024, Möttölä was invited to coach at NBA G League Elite Camp and at the 2024 NBA draft combine event.[7] [8]

Personal life

Finnish ice hockey players, Jarkko Ruutu and Tuomo Ruutu, are Möttölä's second cousins.[9]

Career statistics

NBA

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2000-01| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta| 72 || 3 || 13.5 || .444 || .000 || .811 || 2.4 || .3 || .2 || .1 || 4.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2001-02| style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta| 82 || 14 || 16.7 || .440 || .077 || .750 || 3.3 || .6 || .2 || .2 || 4.8|- class="sortbottom"| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| Career| 154 || 17 || 15.2 || .442 || .063 || .783 || 2.9 || .5 || .2 || .2 || 4.6

EuroLeague

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03| style="text-align:left;"| TAU Cerámica| 7 || 3 || 30.4 || .569 || .444 || .774 || 3.4 || 1.0 || .7 || .3 || 15.1 || 13.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04| style="text-align:left;"| Skipper Bologna| 22 || 16 || 21.8 || .520 || .348 || .879 || 3.8 || .4 || .8 || .4 || 10.8 || 9.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05| style="text-align:left;"| Scavolini Pesaro| 22 || 16 || 28.6 || .497 || .375 || .833 || 5.1 || .9 || 1.0 || .5 || 13.7 || 12.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07| style="text-align:left;"| Žalgiris| 12 || 5 || 22.6 || .547 || .500 || .806 || 3.9 || 1.3 || .5 || .5 || 10.9 || 9.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08| style="text-align:left;"| Aris| 20 || 16 || 19.7 || .488 || .459 || .824 || 2.8 || .7 || .4 || .1 || 8.0 || 6.0|- class="sortbottom"| colspan=2 style="text-align:center;"| Career| 83 || 56 || 23.9 || .516 || .406 || .833 || 3.9 || .8 || .7 || .3 || 11.3 || 9.7

EuroCup

Denotes season in which Möttölä won the EuroCup
|-| style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;"| 2005–06†| style="text-align:left;"| Dynamo Moscow| 14 || 4 || 16.54 || .397 || .444 || .167 || 3.0 || .5 || .7 || .6 || 6.4 || 4.2

College

|-| style="text-align:left;"|1996–97| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 32 || 1 || 17.5 || .586 || .000 || .623 || 2.8 || .9 || .3 || .3 || 6.4|-| style="text-align:left;"|1997–98| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 34 || 34 || 28.2 || .489 || .291 || .754 || 5.3 || .8 || .4 || .5 || 12.5|-| style="text-align:left;"|1998–99| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 33 || 33 || 31.0 || .482 || .354 || .833 || 5.4 || 1.4 || .4 || .4 || 15.3|-| style="text-align:left;"|1999–00| style="text-align:left;"|Utah| 21 || 19 || 27.6 || .498 || .350 || .827 || 4.8 || 1.7 || .2 || .6 || 17.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 120 || 87 || 26.0 || .500 || .333 || .774 || 4.6 || 1.2 || .3 || .4 || 12.4

National team

Tournament
13th
9th
9th
22nd

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://www.hnmky.fi/uutiset/julkaisu/10019 Namikakasvatti Hanno Möttölä valittiin Utahin yliopiston Hall of Fameen
  2. Web site: Aris inks big men Mottola and Agadakos . Sotirou . Kostas . 2007 . Euroleague . 5 February 2017.
  3. Web site: Hanno Mottola of Finland retires . Inside Hoops . 5 February 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120213165953/http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1846 . 13 February 2012 . dead .
  4. Web site: Hanno Mottola vuelve a las canchas . Martinez . Frans . 2009 . Solo Basket . 5 February 2017 . es.
  5. Web site: Hanno Möttölä vahvistaa ToPoa Divisioona A:n kärjessä . Basket.fi . 5 February 2017 . fi.
  6. https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q/hanno%20mottola/pid//_//players.html Hanno MÖTTÖLÄ (FIN).
  7. https://www.itahame.fi/urheilu/6756195 Hanno Möttölä valmentajaksi NBA:n Draft Combine -leirille
  8. https://www.basket.fi/basket/uutiset/hanno-mottola-valmentajaksi-nba-draft-combine-leirille/ Hanno Möttölä valmentajaksi NBA Draft Combine -leirille
  9. http://www.ihanfinaalissa.fi/leijonat/8/tuomo-ruutu/ Tuomo Ruutu; ihanfinaalissa.fi