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31 August, 2017
17 September
77 Johannes VOIGTMANN (Germany)
16/11/2016
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Germany's Voigtmann geared up for another EuroBasket

VITORIA (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) - Johannes Voigtmann in less than a year will appear at his second major tournament for Germany when he plays at FIBA EuroBasket 2017.

The 2.11m center, who made his EuroBasket bow in Berlin last year, is a rising star on the old continent and one big reason why the Germans should have a strong team. The 24-year-old Voigtmann has spoken to FIBA.com.

You've become a key man with Germany's national team. 
It's always nice and I'm always enjoying it. We have a really good group of guys together. We spent two months together in the summer. I always look forward to it.

Chris Fleming coached Germany at EuroBasket 2015 and remained in charge, leading the team this summer. Talk about the importance of continuity for the national team.
I think that's what we need, and also consistency with the players. Okay, we had kind of a tough summer (Germany lost two of their six qualifying games). We need to have every player around. That's what makes Spain so good. They play for 150 years together (laughs) and you can see it on the court and we can develop the same type of thing and be real good because we have good talent.

You didn't have Atlanta Hawks point guard Dennis Schroder this summer. How did that impact things?
We stepped away from talking about players we don't have on the roster but kind of felt some troubles and lacked experience. We had two point guards that came fresh out of college and one guy that had been there a lot but we figured out a way to make EuroBasket. It was a great experience for us.

It didn't look good for Germany after a home loss to the Netherlands on 7 September and another three days later in Denmark left you at 2-2 with two games remaining.
We had our backs to the wall. We had to win our last two games. We had a better roster than other teams, but it's kind of a challenge to know that if you mess up, it's going to be really bad for German basketball. That's a lot of things to think about. We kind of made it and it made us happy and stronger.

So times were tough and there were some nerves, but the adversity was good for Germany?
We played our last game against the Netherlands and showed really good basketball, even missing guys. That's what we have to do, show we can beat teams no matter who is there.


Germany dug deep and qualified for FIBA EuroBasket 2017

Johannes, you have gone from playing for one of the top teams in Germany, Fraport Skyliners, to having an important role for a very talented Baskonia side in Spain. What has the transition been like?
It was pretty easy for me to fit in and with Andrea (Bargnani) injured (early in the campaign), it gave me a little bit more of an opportunity and I used the chance and now when everybody is back, we can be a serious team, a tough team to beat.

How is your game changing and what are you focusing on in terms of getting better?
We don't practice a lot due to having like five games in nine days, but the coach (Sito Alonso) is really good and puts a lot of emphasis on the little things. That's where I have to get better, on defence. I have great defensive players around me and that helps me a lot.

Your jump shot - it seems to have changed. You really have some arc on it now and it seems to have helped.
I struggled a little bit and had some phases when I shot really flat and I put in some work this summer and shot a little higher and it looks like this.

We have to ask you about what took place several months ago, winning the FIBA Europe Cup with Fraport Skyliners. That must have been a real thrill.
I said a lot of times in Germany that we had maybe the best team chemistry ever and it was really good to get something out of it. We were glad to be a part of that team, everyone that was there really enjoyed it. Even for the fans who had some tough years, we almost went down to the second league to making the playoff semi-final and winning the domestic cup. We gave back to the fans because they kept believing for us. I still pull for them, and even my former club before that, watching what they're doing and hoping that they're fine.

FIBA