With FC Bayern, Johannes Voigtmann is heading for the hot phase of the Euroleague. In an interview with Sport1, the basketball star also comments on the national team.
Johannes Voigtmann has been back in Germany since August 2024 after his stations in Spain, Russia and Italy. The 32-year-old hovers on the wave of success with FC Bayern and wants to attack especially in the Euroleague, even if he sees the final tournament taking place in Abu Dhabi.
In the Sport1 interview, Voigtmann also takes a stand on the debate about Isaiah Hartenstein. He also talks about the great burdens for the players and as a former professional of ZSKA Moscow on the war of aggressure from Russia to Ukraine.
Johannes Voigtmann has been playing at FC Bayern Basketball since summer 2024
Johannes Voigtmann: Maccabi is one of the teams for whom the table is no longer concerned. But they still perform on a very high level. In the past few weeks you have won some games against teams that are still fighting for the playoffs. They are really in a good mood. So we won’t go there and think that we have the victory.
Sport1 : Tel Aviv plays her home games in Belgrade in an almost completely empty hall due to the ongoing war. What makes such a game particularly difficult?
Voigtmann: An away game in the Leerer Hall is of course a strange situation. You have to make sure that you get the energy from the team into play. In other games it is often the case that the necessary energy comes from the stands. That won’t be the case now. It is a new situation, which we will definitely master.
Bayern success: “I would not have expected that”
Sport1: Your team is currently in fifth place in the Euroleague and even has chances of home rights in the quarter -finals. Hand on heart: Would you have expected it before the season?
Voigtmann: No, I would not have expected that. But I would not have believed that 19 victories would not be enough for direct playoff participation. But of course, I wouldn’t have thought before the season, even if we put our goals up very high overall. I would say that we have already shown it to our two -folds. We have been playing a very good season so far and are now trying to reward ourselves, otherwise everything is not worth much.
Sport1: Someone who has definitely believed in it is her trainer Gordon Herbert, who even called out the final Four as a destination before the season. He also gave extremely high goals with the national team that they could meet. Is it important to set yourself as high as possible?
Voigtmann: I think that was a bit our mindset before the season. We wanted to start the goals extremely high with reaching the playoffs and then watch what is possible. It worked very well.
Sport1: You have known Gordon Herbert for a long time. What distinguishes him as a trainer?
Voigtmann: He is a very meticulous worker who has his special principles. He pays great attention to details. Overall, he tries to give us a lot of freedom, but also has his very clear limits, which you cannot go over it.
Final Four in Abu Dhabi? “I don’t think that’s so good”
Sport1: The most important games are still in the season. What is still possible for your team?
Voigtmann: Of course, the focus is currently extremely on the Euroleague. We try to make the direct playoff participation clear, and then everything can happen in a series. Regardless of whether it will ultimately be the play-ins or direct playoff participation: we will be full of enthusiasm. In the league we are also very good and play better there too.
Sport1: How do you think that the final tournament of a European competition takes place in Abu Dhabi this year and not in Europe?
Voigtmann: I don’t think that’s so good. I would rather have that it would take place in Europe. But of course I also understand the financial incentive to carry out a final four there. It is always a tightrope walk. You have to see that the business is going somehow. But it would be better for fans if it were in Europe. You have to weigh up what is more important.
“Lucky that nobody got injured”
Sport1: There are still many encounters on a possible way there. It certainly does not help that the BBL games in the league starts at unfavorable times for them. Would you like more support from the BBL?
Voigtmann: We do not need support, but simply much more understanding. If there is no way, then of course I understand that, but for example last weekend at the Würzburg game there were other options. Then it is not a question that someone is preferred or disadvantaged. It is about we having to protect the health of the players. We had two Euroleague games a week and then play less than 48 hours later in the BBL, the fourth game in eight days. We have now been lucky that nobody got injured. But in the end it is like this: if someone injures themselves, everyone makes any posts and say: come back quickly and good relaxation. But in the end that doesn’t work. It would just need more sensitivity. It does not need support for us, because of course we don’t have a special role and don’t want to have. We just want to pay attention to the players a little better.
Sport1: In late summer, the Casketball European Championship is pending. What do you say about the German group?
Voigtmann: I looked at it briefly and I am pleased that we play in Finland. The group is certainly good, but we will also set ourselves clear goals. Of course we want to get out of the group.
Sport1: Your team -mate Niels Giffey has resigned from the national team. What about your own future. Is there a clear plan or do you decide from year to year?
Voigtmann: I don’t have a clear plan. This year I spoke to Alex Mumbru and signaled that I would be there. Everything else will be shown.
Hartenstein debate: Voigtmann says
Sport1: A player who has been there for a long time is Isaiah Hartenstein. Would you be happy if he started at the European Championship?
Voigtmann: He is a very, very good player. He does an extremely good job in the NBA after he had a stony way, but fought himself through it. Now he is rewarding himself, among other things with the very good contract that he signed in summer. He has a very good role in a team that plays around the championship. I think he would fit very, very well into the team. The only question is whether it is available in summer.
Sport1: Finally there was a media discussion because Hartenstein had initially only formulated that he wanted to play the Olympics. This was designed as a raisin picking. In the meantime he has rowed back. Should players be in their point of view if or is it okay only to be available for certain tournaments?
Voigtmann: So I believe that it has made us strong in recent years that people were constant, no matter what. Of course there are always reasons why players cancel or not. It may also be so physically finished that it doesn’t work. You also have to understand that. But: if you want to become a unit and also want to create a culture in the long term that, for example, allows you that people are always there, even though there is a risk of being cut shortly before the end, and it is precisely these people that even develop a certain acceptance – then you should try to be there as often as possible.
Sport1: Is there a clear demand from the new national coach Alex Mumbru that you have to promise players for a certain period of time, similar to Gordon Herbert?
Voigtmann: I haven’t heard of that yet.
Sport1: But you would already say that it is in principle better if the players also agree in the long term to be available to the DBB, also in order to be able to grow together as a team?
Voigtmann: I think it’s not just about growing together. We have around 20 to 25 players who are in the extended squad. There are always difficult decisions to make. If one is there, it is not there or only comes to the important things, then maybe there is no intensive team atmosphere. Especially in recent years we have had this team mood with the 20 to 25 people. Nevertheless, there are of course always reasons why this is not possible or why you have to cancel. However, there should be a certain basic attitude. The coach does not always have to specify something, but that should be a basic feeling.
Theis at Bavaria? “Of course that would have been cool”
Sport1: Moritz Wagner will unfortunately not be able to play after his cruciate ligament rupture in summer. Did you write to him after his injury and are you in exchange with him?
Voigtmann: We already have a little contact and of course I also wrote him after the injury. It is really a shame for him because he was really good in shape and has always helped us extremely well the last few years in summer. This will be difficult to replace a player like this or impossible. But we’ll see what we can do. Of course we hope that he will return quickly.
Sport1: One who is back in Europe is Daniel Theis. Is that a blessing for the DBB because it is now available more often?
Voigtmann: It is good that he is available to us again in the windows, but it is almost more important that he is now playing regularly. He had had a few problems finding a correct role in recent years. In summer he always played great. Now it is of course very good that he plays a lot and does a very good performance.
Sport1: Are you a bit sad that he wasn’t the next German international at Bayern?
Voigtmann: Of course that would have been cool, but you can’t have everything (laughs).
War “also concerns me personally”
Sport1: You are also happy to work away from the field. Shortly before Christmas, they helped the Munich Tafel at the food edition. How important are such actions for you?
Voigtmann: It’s about understanding what is happening there. It is also important to see what it looks like with people where things don’t go so rosy. I think it is good that the club does a lot here and gives us the opportunity to look in there. That is an important thing.
Sport1: They played in Russia before the final outbreak of the War of Agency of Russia against Ukraine. The war is still running. How do you deal with the topic and how much you may be polluted, precisely because you are sure to know people on site?
Voigtmann: This is a very bad situation for the whole world, which is unfortunately unchanged. Because of course I still know some people, it is one thing for me that also concerns me personally. I hope that everything will end at some point. It also employs me in everyday life, but I don’t think more than any other person who deals with world events.
Bayern jersey? “The most likely Thomas Müller”
Sport1: Finally back to the sporty. You have two years of contract after this season. What is still possible with Bayern in the future?
Voigtmann: I think the club has taken a very good development in recent years. Here the ambitions were increasingly screwed and you have become more and more professional. I think the path has to go on. The goal should be that we are currently getting an ever higher level internationally. You have to try that a season like this is not an outlier, but that it becomes the norm. This is of course difficult because other clubs are much better positioned financially. But we have to find ways to keep up. That should be the goal.
Sport1: In an interview at the start of the season, they said that they will remain dynamo-Dresden fan in football, but also sympathized with Bayern and their first jersey was even a jersey from Mehmet Scholl. Has a colleague made up of the soccer players in Munich so far who could end up on a future jersey?
Voigtmann: Bavaria has always been the second club with me. I have had some jerseys and now, especially because of the news situation, I would probably choose Thomas Müller.