Johannes Voigtmann

Will The NBA Be Calling Johannes Voigtmann This Summer Or Does He Only Possess Euroleague Format?

Even if an exciting basketball game can be interrupted and made less nice by the constant blowing of whistles slowing down the game, so can a timeout where some patrons will scoot to the food stand to buy a Coke and nacho´s while other´s may even delay a bathroom run just to watch the entertaining sideline show of ex Alba Berlin head coach Sasa Obradovic who has his own Serbian theatre like skits with his hand and body gestures trying to motivate his squad back into the game, but the 2 time European basketball champion with the then Yugoslavia also has a knack of saying bold things. In the 2015-2016 season Obradovic who won the Korac Cup in 1995 with Alba Berlin as a player and has basketball legendary status from the Spree river to Potsdam is a guy who can talk and fill a press conference room and where journalists for once won´t interrupt, but just shut up and listen stated that ex Brose Bamberg guard Brad Wanamaker belongs to the top three best players to ever have played in the BBL. It would be interesting to how quickly he could come to a conclusion to which center is better the more experienced Elmeden Kikanovic or constantly developing and rising star Johannes Voigtmann of the then Fraport Skyliners. It would also be interesting to see how Obradovic would react to the question “Was Johannes Voigtmann the best player in the BBL in 2015-2016? In terms of play, the way Johannes Voigtmann was playing that season, he was becoming more and more of a showcase player in the BBL and a player that fans came specifically to see play. You may have seen Jason Boone as an extra in a Lebron James movie as he could easily moonlight as an actor or go into the field once his playing days are over and could even make a mean Jason or funny Jason on screen. However where he doesn´t joke is when it comes to basketball as he is all business on and off the court and on December 15^th, 2015, he had the audacity to tell me at half time of a Fiba Europe Cup game in Frankfurt against Sodertalje that Johannes Voigtmann was the best player in the German BBL. Even the ex floor general of the Fraport Skyliners Jordan Theodore was very impressed about his ex teammate: “To me Jo has been playing at a high level all season. Definitely the best center in the league. Big Jo is definitely one of the best players in this league. He does it all”, warned Jordan Theodore. In 2015-2016, it is so much fun watching the blue eyed basketball monster as at times it seemed like he was a younger version of Larry Bird wooing fans with his special knack of passing the ball, but in reality it is just Johannes Voigtmann being the most complete center in the BBL. “Joe is very skilled. He has a high IQ and can do things with the basketball that I haven’t seen from guys his size. He can put the ball on the floor and create for others. He can shoot the long ball and his mid range game is unstoppable”, stressed ex Seton Hall guard Jordan Theodore. But before we talk about the current play of the German national player, let´s look back to 2012 when he first arrived in Frankfurt.

Miles Schmidt-Scheuber doing play by play with Johannes Voigtmann during a Pro B playoff game between TV Langen and Basket Akademy Weser-Ems in Langen in 2014

Voigtmann is a 24 year old 211cm center born on September 20^th and hails from Eisenach, Germany and played four seasons with the Fraport Skyliners. Before coming to Frankfurt, the German big man started his basketball trade in the former East Germany and didn´t start until he was 15 years old.

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Johannes Voigtmann Fuels The Fraport Skyliners Into The Fiba Europe Cup Final Slipping By Enisey 59-56

Basketball players usually remember their first and maybe even second professional games especially when they gave a good effort. It seems like it has been ages since Fraport Skyliners power forward Danilo Barthel was a rookie in the 2011-2012 season, but he got on the right track in his first two games at home against Oldenburg and on the road in Tuebingen scoring 8 points in each contest in limited minutes, but at once letting the German basketball world know that there is potent basketball coming from the historical city of Heidelberg. For Barthel playing on the front line squeezed between the eccentric ex NBA player Jermario Davidson who will be remembered for playing with his cell phone on the bench while being injured and possibly studying new rap lyrics at an away game in Tuebingen and the talented young German Tim Ohlbrecht who had already played his first Beko BBL game at age 17 with Leverkusen, won the German league title at age 19 with Bamberg and played at the 2008 Olympic games at age 20. After that his career stagnated a bit and seemed at a low point when he came to the Fraport Skyliners in 2011. After the wasted season in Frankfurt where he never really got going under the hard nosed head coach Muli Katzurin where he averaged 6,0ppg and 4,0rpg and was even humiliated having to play 4 Pro B games with the farm team. After that season, he knew he had to make a change in his career as it was going nowhere, so he decided to go to the United States and try his luck even if that seemed like a reach at the time. He worked hard during the summer of 2012 in New Jersey and then made it to the NBA via the D-league. He played 3 NBA games for the Houston Rockets and won 2 D-league titles with Rio Grande and Fort Wayne which was no easy feat. Last season he came back to Germany and laced up his sneakers with ratiopharm Ulm and averaged 12.1ppg, 5.3rpg, Blocks-5(1.2bpg). This season he took the bucks and went to Russia to Enisey and has been a key figure in their success as he is averaging 11,3ppg and ,4,0rpg while shooting a strong 65% from the field. Last season the 27 year old German played solid games against Frankfurt with Ulm posting 17 and 15 points. Ohlbrecht probably won´t remember the first two games of the 2011-2012 season where he put up the goose egg in the first two games against Oldenburg and Tuebingen, but Barthel will surely never forget those first two games where he put his first mini stamp on the Beko BBL with his rugged play. Ohlbrecht was looking for another title while Barthel was still looking for his first title and both were motivated to help get their teams going and into the coveted final on Sunday as the Fraport Skyliners needed a strong fourth quarter to grind out a dirty 59-56 win over Russian team Enisey and will face off against Italian team Varese on Sunday as they dispatched home team Chalon 91-82. It was another game where Ohlbrecht didn´t fair so well as he notched only three points in the loss. One got a feeling very quickly that it would be a grind out game as both teams focused on defense and just couldn´t get anything going on offense as players had a new obstacle to contend with the ball. “It was a dirty game get down fight to the end. Both teams really wanted to win, but it was difficult playing in a totally new gym and it was hard adjusting to the Molten balls since we are used to the Spaulding. We didn´t play well for three quarters. We were too excited in the first three quarters and we are supposed to be under control, but we missed too many easy lay ups and free throws, but in the fourth quarter we stuck to our principles moving the ball and playing great defense”, stressed ex Seton Hall guard Jordan Theodore. Enisey fought hard for 40 minutes, but in the fourth quarter got an extra dose of aggressive defense thrown in their face and were unable to tame the Frankfurt inside out game. “It was a real grind out game and the Frankfurt good team defense really helped them. They also did a good job getting fast break buckets and our transition defense hurt us. Frankfurt hit big shots at the end and we couldn´t make the plays which was the difference”, stressed ex George Washington(NCAA) guard Tony Taylor.

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Johannes Voigtmann Finds His Rifle Again Powering The Fraport Skyliners Past the EWE Baskets Oldenburg 78-63

In the last three months one of the hottest teams in the Beko BBl have been the EWE Baskets Oldenburg who have been like a runaway train led by 257 pound beast Brian Qvale lending that scoring and physical trait with supporting cast Ricky Paulding and Vaughn Duggins on the wings as nobody has been able to stop them as they were riding a magnificent 12 game winning streak. In this glorious Beko BBL run, the club had scored more than 100 points three times and even if they played 60 percent lower ranked teams, they were able to beat two teams battling for a playoff spot with the s.Oliver Baskets Wurzburg and the Giessen 46ers and also defeated two of the top three with the Brose Baskets Bamberg and Alba Berlin. What really has been most impressive is thatnthe EWE Baskets Oldenburg had been able to beat these four times in crunch time and seem on a good way heading into the playoffs where winning these nail bitters are very important in a close series. For a guy like Mr Oldenburg Ricky Paulding who has played 350 Beko BBL games coming into the showdown against the Fraport Skyliners, he is a guy who could probably tell you exactly where he scored certain points in his career in the Fraport Skyliners living room. Paulding also will remember that the last game that his club lost before they started this long winning streak was the do or die game on January 20^th as the Fraport Skyliners secured their ticket for the 2016 Beko BBL cup final 4 in Munich with a 80-68 victory. In that game, the EWE baskets Oldenburg stayed with the Fraport Skyiners well being down at halftime 44-43, but a devastating 17-5 in the third quarter Frankfurt run broke the back of Paulding and co as Frankfurt marched to Munich with their heads held high. Not only was the revenge factor big for the EWE baskets Oldenburg, but the game also witnessed a new rematch of the brothers of another mother Jordan Theodore and ex NBA player Scott Machado who grew up on balling and dreaming of a professional career at the Dyckman playground in the Washington/Heights section of New York. The EWE Baskets Oldenburg wanted revenge while the Fraport Skyliners wanted to notch a win and secure home court advantage and travel to Berlin with a lot of self-confidence for their next game on Sunday with 8 time Beko BBL champion Alba Berlin and did as Oldenburg went down in Frankfurt for the second straight time this season losing 78-63 and securing home court advantage in the playoffs. It was another great team effort for the Fraport Skyliners where they really buckled down on defense in the second half allowing Oldenburg to only to 25 points. When one plays against a talented offensive team like Oldenburg totally shutting down everyone is about as uncommon as keeping A Jordan Theodore clear from the lane, but the Fraport Skyliners did a super job holding Mr Oldenburg Rickey Paulding to only six points and not letting Vaughn Duggins and Brian Qvale to totally explode as they were limited combined to 24 points. “We played Skyliner basketball once again. I feel that we really put together a good 40 minutes of basketball. Even when we did get down, we never worried about it, but just concentrated on the next play and getting the job done. We played good defense and moved the ball never dwelling on mistakes. This was a huge game where we were playing for third place. We came to play”, stressed Fraport Skyliners guard Jordan Theodore. For the EWE Baskets Oldenburg winning had been a very normal thing in the last months, but in Frankfurt they hit a stone wall that even that gave their players difficulty coming up with answers as to why they couldn´t continue their winning streak on the road. “Like always Frankfurt defended very well. Frankfurt dictated the tempo with their defense and we just didn´t shoot the ball well. We missed too many easy lay ups and we had to work a lot harder to get open shots on offense”, added EWE Baskets Oldenburg guard Philipp Schwethelm.

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The Twin Towers Barthel And Voigtmann Are The Passing Flavors Of The Night Pacing The Fraport Skyliners Past ratiopharm Ulm 92-73

Every weekend, Fraport Skyliner point guard and the pride and joy of Englewood, New Jersey, Jordan Theodore has too battle against top rated point guards in the Beko BBL and some nights, he comes out the winner both in the team and match up category, but as of late, he has only been coming up the master in the head to head battle while his team the Fraport Skyliners have been coming up short in the victory department. After having a 6 game winning streak in the Beko BBL, the 2004 German champion currently is riding a three game losing streak. Theodore held his own in Ludwigsburg against American Kerron Johnson producing 22 points, but losing 74-70, then held a basketball boxing match against Jordan Taylor as he hit the game winning shot propelling 9 time Beko BBL cup winner into the final in Munich and last weekend the ex Seton Hall guard supplied 21 points to Brad Wanamaker´s 12 points, but the Brose Baskets Bamberg crushed Frankfurt 71-58. Theodore returned back to his own living room after three games on the road and was ready for the next battle against German national player Per Guenther and ratiopharm Ulm, currently one of the hottest team´s in the league having won 13 of their last 14 games. In this long and illustrious winning streak also belonged the 68-61 win of ratiopharm Ulm over the Fraport Skyliners on December 12^th at home as Theodore couldn´t play in that game due to injury as German national player Konstantin Klein moved into the starting rotation notching 14 points as Guenther achieved 10 points and six assists in the win. It was the little things that Ulm did and Frankfurt didn´t that paved the win for guys like Chris Babb and Taylor Braun. One thing that Theodore has had often this season after games in the Fraport arena is that winning smile and non stop talkative mode that let´s him go on and on about the beauty of Frankfurt basketball as he has a 16-2 record this season in Beko BBL and Europe Cup play at home. In his first meeting with Guether and with revenge on the minds of his teammates, he and the Fraport Skyliners came out with an exceptional effort over 40 minutes as it was another day at the office where the offense was rolling and the defense was standing tall beating ratiopharm Ulm 92-73. Theodore didn´t start the game as he hadn´t practiced all week, but still amassed 10 points and four assists in the rout. “I was sick this week and I was a last minute decision to play. Klein did a good job and we still took care of business. We knew that it would be a good game. I didn´t play in Ulm and all I wanted was a win tonight. I wanted show my presence and this was a great win after the loss in Bamberg. We did a good job on Guenther and credit Klein for locking him up. Klein showed a lot of pride after losing the first time. We did a good job attacking Guenther and taking him out of the game”, stressed ex Seton Hall guard Jordan Theodore. A big key in the Frankfurt victory was the superb play by the German twin Towers Johannes Voigtmann and Danilo Barthel who combined for 35 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Especially their amazing passing game once again dazzled everyone as they continue to demonstrate why they are the best passing 4-5 duo in the German Beko BBL. Even if Canadian national player Aaron Doornekamp led all players with 8 assists, the passing flavor of the game were called Voigtmann and Barthel as they just took apart the Ulm defense all night long. Some come to games to witness the cool decision making and amazing game control of Jordan Theodore, Aaron Doornekamp make splash sounds from the corner, Mike Morrison make crushing authority dunks or the beautiful precision passing from all over the floor from Johannes Voigtmann or Danilo Barthel. “We really rely a lot on Voigtmann and Barthel, but what else can you expect when you have two guys like that that can score, rebound, pass and work so hard. It is a big advantage when you can give the big man the ball and let him go to work. Their passing is huge. It is a big advantage when they have a good position with the ball. It opens up the floor for their 1-1 play or if the double team comes, they know where to find us”, expressed 5 time CIS champion Philip Scrubb. Ratiopharm Ulm really had no cure of how to stop 40 minutes of always attacking mode on offense and couldn´t crack the always aggressive Frankfurt defense. “When you play against a good team, you have to be ready for 40 minutes, but we weren´t. We were unable to execute on offense and looked confused on defense. Their two big men really hurt us with their scoring and when they can pass as well it gets tougher. We have a very athletic front court, but we were unable to use it to our advantage”, stressed ex Boston Celtic Chris Babb.

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Johannes Voigtmann Plays Fast Break Slam Dunk Basketball Leading The Fraport Skyliners To Their Seventh Win In A Row Defeating MBC 93-76

Sometimes a player gets that distinction of being too critical about certain offers and sits at home working out and waiting for the phone call to ring for that perfect offer that will get him a little bit more than what the previous team was offering. In the case of Fraport Skyliner Jacob Burtschi, it wasn´t so much about waiting for a team to call, but more that he wasn´t 100% healed from his back injury. He joined the Fraport Skyliners in February and two other players also returned to the Beko BBL late to the Mitteldeutscher BC with Beckham Wyrick in January and Mark mr fantastic Dorris in February. Over the years Dorris has made a name in the BBL having made incredible off balance shots for Phoenix Hagen where he looked like a gumby that has given headaches to his friend Quantez Robertson not only in Germany on the court, but also on the play grounds in their home town of Cincinnati. So far Dorris has played in only two games contributing to a 72-67 win against Braunschweig, but had misfortune shooting 0/6 and then scoring nine points against Oldenburg. In the last few weeks, Dorris got a taste of what Josh Parker experienced last season sitting on the bench because MBC keeping one too many import players. Wyrick on the other hand has had more luck having played five games averaging 7,0ppg and 3,6rpg. In his first game he mustered 11 points in a bitter 96-81 loss to Alba Berlin, but last weekend poured in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but was unable to help get the team over the hump losing to Crailsheim 87-84. Wyrick like Burtschi is the teams glue guy that will do the extra on the court and little things that don´t get noticed on the stat sheet to help the team win. Wyrick has played numerous times against Frankfurt with teams like Bayreuth Bamberg and Leverkusen and still has memories of the breathtaking five game series in 2008 that Leverkusen lost on the last play not letting them reach the semi final. Dorris and Wyrick returned back to Frankfurt wanting to do damage while Burtschi was looking to stay perfect as he was 6-0 with Frankfurt since returning back to his old stomping ground for the third time. After 40 minutes Burtschi was 7-0 since returning while the MBC Cincinnati connection of Dorris and Wyrick combined for 14 points as it wasn´t enough as the Fraport Skyliners won their seventh game in a row defeating the Mitteldeutscher BC 93-76. “I thought that we played well. There were times in the game where he had problems moving the ball, but there will always be ups and downs in a game. Joe Voigtmann had an awesome game. We played decent as a team”, stressed Fraport Skyliner guard Justin Cobbs. The Mitteldeutscher came into the game reeling off a loss in Oldenburg 96 hours earlier and were without top scorer American Patrick Richard who saw close up from the bench why his team was unable to secure the win. “I thought that we competed well, but in the third quarter Frankfurt took over game. They started to hit shots and Cobbs did a great job controlling the game without having to score much. We couldn´t capitalize on their turnovers in the third quarter and took too many three pointers”, stressed Louisiana native Patrick Richard. “It was a close first half and we were able to pull away by stopping their energy and getting rebounds”, added Oklahoma native Jacob Burtschi.

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Adam Waleskowski (MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg) Johannes Voigtmann Can Be Considered One Of The Top Passing Big Men In The BBL

Adam Waleskowski is a 32 year old 203cm power forward that was born in Cape Girardeau in the United States that also has the German citizenship that is playing his second season for Ludwigsburg. He played at Florida St. (NCAA) from 2001-2005. He played at Erdgas Ehingen/Urspringschule (Germany-2.Bundesliga) from 2005-2007, but in the second half of the 2006-2007 season moved to Etendard de Brest (France-ProB, starting five): 18 games: 14.2ppg, Reb-3(8.3), 2.5apg, 1.1spg, FGP: 54%, 3PT: 25.0%, FT: 75.0%. In 2007, he recieved the German Citizenship and played for Besancon Basket Comte Doubs (France-ProB, starting five): 26 games: 14.0ppg, 7.4rpg, 1.3apg, 1.3spg, 2FGP: 55.8%, 3PT: 30.4%, FT: 70.6%. In 2008-2009, he played for JSF Nanterre (France-ProB), French League: 7 games: 7.6ppg, 3.4rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 59.5%, FT: 37.5%; left in Nov.’08, in Jan.’09 moved to Achilleas Kaimakliou (Cyprus-Division A, starting five): 11pts, 17reb, 1ast, 1steal, in April ’09 signed at Besancon Basket Comte Doubs (France-ProA): 4 games: 4.8ppg. In 2009-2010 he played for Achilleas Kaimakliou (Cyprus-Division A). In 2010-2011, he played for BG Goettingen (Germany-1.Bundesliga): EuroCup: 8 games: 3.6ppg, 2.1rpg, left in Feb. ’11; German League: 20 games: 8.1ppg, 3.4rpg, FGP: 56.9%, 3PT: 18.2%, FT: 76.7% In 2011-2012, he played for Pizza Express Apollon (Cyprus-Division A): 7 games: 6.4ppg, left in Dec.’11, in Mar.’12 moved to Astrum Levice (Czech Rep.-NBL): 9 games: 10.9ppg, 5.4rpg, 1.0spg, FGP: 48.6%, FT: 76.5%; played also at Onyx Levice (Slovakia-Extraliga): 4 games: 4.3ppg.In 2012-2013 he played for Sigal Prishtina (Kosovo-SuperLeague, starting five), in Jan.’13 signed at Duesseldorf Baskets (Germany-ProA): 24 games: 13.3ppg, 6.2rpg, 1.0apg, FGP: 58.2%, 3PT: 37.5%, FT: 68.8%. Last season for lUdwigsburg he played 26 games: 7.8ppg, 3.7rpg, FGP: 49.6%, 3PT: 35.7%, FT: 73.5%He spoke to German Hoops after the 88-75 win against the Fraport Skyliners.

Adam thanks for talking to German Hoops. Before the current 2 game winning streak, Ludwigsburg were riding a 6 game losing streak. What were the main reasons for the club having such a long dry spell?

This was a tough time for our team. We were not actually playing bad basketball, rather than losing close games. I think there were just a few small problems that were causing us to come up short, and we were really struggling to finish games out in the fourth quarter.

American DJ Kennedy is really tearing up the BBL now. In the last 4 games he is averaging 25 points per game. The club could be 4-0 in this span had they won tight games against Oldenburg and Braunschweig. How important has he been for the team and what extra dimension besides scoring does he give the team?

For sure DJ has been a great addition to our team. He really has a winning mentality, and besides being a great scorer and 1 on 1 player, he is a great rebounder and has picked up our defensives schemes very quickly.

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