In his latest blog this season, Kyle Wiltjer of Umana Reyer Venice talks about what it'll take to survive the BKT EuroCup Regular Season.
Kyle Wiltjer, Reyer: 'It's cool to see how competitive the EuroCup is'
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12 Mins read
Here comes 2024! We start the year leading the Italian League with an 11-3 record and sitting 4-9 in our EuroCup group. It just shows how tough the EuroCup is. If you are a EuroLeague fan, you obviously know how tough that is, but I think the EuroCup has really improved this year. I think our biggest problem is that we have lost a couple of close games, and that's the big difference. Instead of being 4-9, we could be 6-7 or even 7-6, and then we would be moving up the standings a couple of spots. So I think we are not far off. I think most of our defeats have been close. We had some injuries piling up, so it just has been a difficult time, but it also speaks volumes of how tough this EuroCup group is.
"It's going to be a tough task winning all five."
Take Hapoel and Paris, for instance, scoring 100 points almost in every game. They are playing fast and very unselfish basketball. Both have given us problems, and they are posting some numbers we have never seen before at this level. They are playing great. The good news is that we play three of our next four games at home. We will probably need to win all five games to qualify, but I believe we can do it. We just made a new signing at the 'five' position in Mfiondu Kabengele, who's going to really help us out, and now Max Heidegger is on the way, too. It's going to be a tough task winning all five, but I think we just take one game at a time. I think it's definitely attainable, and we are playing great basketball now. We are playing really well in Italy, so now it's time to just keep fighting in the EuroCup and try to qualify to the playoffs.
This is my first EuroCup season in five years. In the meantime, I have been all over the world, so I have seen so many different styles of play. For me, I'm more experienced, but like I said before, the EuroCup has evolved every year. The EuroLeague and EuroCup have just got stronger and stronger. As you see in the EuroLeague, with all these NBA players who have come over here, and then the EuroCup, you have so much talent at this level. It has just continued and it shows the growth of basketball in Europe. It's fun to see, especially having played in the EuroCup five years ago and coming back. It's cool to see how competitive the EuroCup is.
Holidays in Venice
Spending Christmas and New Year's Eve in Venice has been a dream for my family. It's hard not to think you are on vacation when you are living in such a beautiful, beautiful place. For us, it's amazing. My daughter has a school that she's going to start this week, which is really fun. She'll probably pick up some Italian. And then my wife and I, we are always working on our Spanish because I played in Spain, so it kind of helps in Italy because you can kind of understand some things.
During Christmas, we got to do some of the stuff that people do when they come to Venice. We have had some time here and there throughout the season and where we live, just a short little train ride over to Venice where all those gondolas are. So we did a Christmas Day gondola ride, my wife and I and our girls. They obviously don't understand how special it is, but when they are older and just seeing pictures and videos that me and my wife take, it will be a special memory that they are going to really cherish, and I'll cherish for the rest of my life.
Meeting up with former teammates
Before Christmas, I got to see my old college teammates from both my colleges, Kevin Pangos and Alex Poythress. It's always fun seeing familiar faces and even a guy like Andrew Andrews, playing for Joventut. I grew up with him in Portland, Oregon. So just seeing some of your friends in Europe and in the same competition, it's always fun. Kevin just moved to Valencia, so I think for him it's going to be a good situation. And Spain is such a good place for him just the way they play, so I will definitely be tuned in to his games and will be excited to watch.
OK, it was not EuroCup, but did you see that dunk by our guy Rayjon Tucker? He is a beast! He is one of the best athletes I've ever seen with my own eyes, and I played in the NBA one season, played everywhere in the world. He is just an unbelievable athlete and just a great dude off the court. He is super down to earth, always having a good time, and when you are playing such a long season, it really makes it fun when you have guys that you like and you can get along with. So this group of guys, we have had our ups and downs with the season, but we are having a great time right now being together and going to work every day. But yeah, "Air Tuck" is a beast, man. No one can jump with that guy.
The challenge ahead
Our next EuroCup game is against Besiktas. We lost by six points in Istanbul and that is one of the goals, to beat them by more points. This is what makes European basketball interesting. Some fans back home in the U.S., they don't understand why you are playing until the last buzzer even if you are up 6 or 7 points, but those things do matter when you are playing EuroLeague or EuroCup. In those type of leagues where everyone is so close in the standings, every point matters. So, the goal is 100% to try to win by more than six. You can't really worry about that as a player. You just have to play hard, and whatever happens, happens. But you have to you play every possession until the end, for sure, in Europe.
"I think we are such a dangerous team."
Like I said, we can only focus on the next game. One game at a time! I think we are such a dangerous team. We have such a great roster and, as you see, we are the best team in Italy right now, so we have to continue with that confidence and just know that we might be low in the standings, but we have had some tough games and it's a tough competition. We just have to continue to fight... and fight until the end!