By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
Without both Nikola Mirotic and Shavon Shields, heading to the clash against Baskonia, Milano was in a difficult position on the forwards’ spot. Moreover, with both Shabazz Napier and Maodo Lo being out, who would have created opportunities for himself and the others?
The answer relies on Johannes Voigtmann, who created the perfect couple alongside Nicolò Melli to give the Italian team the victory. Putting up a huge double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, he was the leader of Ettore Messina’s team.
Thanks to his 29-PIR performance, the 31-year-old German forward was named EuroLeague Round 17 MVP, making his signature to the vast majority of good things on offense, starting from the very first minutes. He then wrote the ending words with a thunderous dunk in the latest moments of the game.
WHAT A DUNK TO SEAL THE WIN 🔨🔥#MagicMoment l @OlimpiaMI1936 pic.twitter.com/d3IcS68T7D
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) December 28, 2023
After the win, he shared his satisfaction. “We didn’t usually have it in the last couple of weeks, with many players being injured. It’s a great win for us, we’re very happy. I’m very proud of the guys that came in, didn’t play a lot of minutes in the last couple of weeks but made a great effort”, he commented.
Against his former team, for which he played from 2016 to 2019, he stepped up. “Everybody gave us something, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy against this team because they can score a lot and fast. It’s not the perfect game, but we’re happy”, he followed in the post-game flash interview.
The former CSKA Moscow power forward, who has been playing for Ettore Messina’s team in Mediolanum Forum since the summer of 2022, has been averaging 9.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, shooting 66.7% from the two-point range.
Full list of 2023-24 EuroLeague Round MVPs
- Round 1: Alec Peters, Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos (31 PIR)
- Round 2: Guerschon Yabusele, Real Madrid vs Anadolu Efes (39 PIR)
- Round 3: Tornike Shengelia, Virtus Bologna vs ALBA Berlin (32 PIR)
- Round 4: Nikola Milutinov, Olympiacos vs Partizan Belgrade (30 PIR)
- Round 5: Mathias Lessort, Panathinaikos vs Baskonia (31 PIR)
- Round 6: Tornike Shengelia, Virtus Bologna vs Anadolu Efes (30 PIR)
- Round 7: Facundo Campazzo, Real Madrid vs Virtus Bologna (39 PIR)
- Round 8: Codi Miller-McIntyre, Baskonia vs FC Barcelona (29 PIR)
- Round 9: Chima Moneke, Baskonia vs ASVEL (35 PIR)
- Round 10: Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes vs Partizan Belgrade – Maodo Lo, Milan vs Crvena Zvezda (38 PIR)
- Round 11: Serge Ibaka, Bayern Munich vs Virtus Bologna (34 PIR)
- Round 12: Tyrique Jones, Anadolu Efes vs Panathinaikos (36 PIR)
- Round 13: Shane Larkin, Anadolu Efes vs ALBA Berlin (41 PIR)
- Round 14: Kostas Sloukas, Panathinaikos vs ASVEL (29 PIR)
- Round 15: Josh Nebo, Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Baskonia – Kevin Punter, Partizan Belgrade vs Valencia – Shavon Shields, Olimpia Milano vs ASVEL (25 PIR)
- Round 16: Milos Teodosic, Crvena Zvezda vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (40 PIR)
- Round 17: Johannes Voigtmann, Milano vs Baskonia (29 PIR)
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague