It seemed almost like destiny that Johannes Voigtmann was the leading figure in CSKA Moscow’s thrilling victory in Round 16. It was, after all, Voigtmann returning to his native Germany as he helped CSKA knock off ALBA Berlin in the country’s capital.
Voigtmann showcased his all-around game against ALBA as he scored 16 points with 4 three-pointers in CSKA’s 90-93 road victory. He also collected 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steals, a career-high 3 blocks for an index rating of 22.
CSKA Head Coach Dimitris Itoudis admitted afterwards that the game was a little more special for Voigtmann.
"Jojo was highly motivated and was one of the key players. He brought a lot of other things," said the coach.
Voigtmann also showed up when it counted most - in the fourth quarter.
Having already grabbed an offensive rebound early in the period, Voigtmann drained crucial back-to-back three-pointers to give CSKA a 76-80 lead. He also assisted on Toko Shengelia’s layup for a 79-82 cushion and grabbed another offensive rebound with 108 seconds to play.
Voigtmann did have one blunder late in the game that could have turned out worse. He committed an offensive foul turnover with 11 seconds left and his CSKA up by three points. But the game in the end worked out for the guests.
"We brought the energy over the whole game. That was our main thing today after what happened on Wednesday," Voigtmann said referring to CSKA’s bad loss earlier in the week at home against UNICS Kazan, in which he only had 5 points and 2 rebounds.
"We had to show a reaction and bounce back after what happened there. So, the energy level was very high on both ends of the floor. That was good. But sometimes if you put in too much energy then you are not smart enough and you make little mistakes."
Coach Itoudis said a real key was the team not losing its composure in the third quarter when ALBA hit a number of big shots and pulled ahead.
"We had clear targets, we increased our defense, we made some crucial stops and got rebounds. We managed to win the rebound battle," the coach said.
Voigtmann was a big help in that regard, grabbing three offensive rebounds in the game. All told, CSKA snatched 18 offensive rebounds and turned them into 16 points as well as extra possessions and extra little daggers being delivered to ALBA as the hosts tried to get the ball back near the end.
"In the end we fought it out," concluded Voigtmann, one of the main pillars in CSKA’s win in his native Germany.