The Reyer point guard is having a strong season back in the EuroCup and playing with two compatriots
Tyler Ennis enjoying playing with fellow Canadian and 'best GM in Europe' Wiltjer
Player Spotlight
11 Mins read
Umana Reyer Venice kind of feels like Team Canada among the BKT EuroCup teams thanks to a trio of international stars from the North American country. And Tyler Ennis is definitely enjoying playing alongside his compatriots Mfiondu Kabengele and Kyle Wiltjer – the latter being one of his closest friends in the game.
Ennis is spending his second season in the EuroCup after playing four games during the 2021-22 season with Turk Telekom Ankara, a campaign during which he was coming back from a major injury and eventually left the team. Wiltjer was playing with Ennis in the Turkish capital as well during the 2020-21 campaign.
Ennis actually called that 2020-21 season his favorite memory with Wiltjer, who is two years older than him.
“It was during COVID and that team spent a lot of time together off the court. We all just wanted to win and were willing to sacrifice individual stats. Again, we had amazing chemistry and trust with each other and with that team. If I don’t get injured, I think we win one or two trophies that year,” says Ennis, who tore his Achilles in November 2020 and missed the remainder of the season with the Turkish team.
“We just have a chemistry. We are close friends off the court, which also helps. We hold each other accountable, which is necessary. Scoring is easy for him and I sometimes just have to get him the ball in his spots. But we think in the same way and have had success in the pick and roll because there isn’t much teams can do to stop it. He makes my job easier. He trusts I’m going to get him open shots,” Ennis says about playing with Wiltjer.
The two also played in the NBA together, spending the 2016-17 season united on the court with the Houston Rockets. That made Ennis’s decision to come to Venice that much easier.
“It always helps joining a team with someone you are close friends with. He never put pressure on me.”
Ennis joked that Wiltjer is nicknamed the “best GM in Europe”.
“He was behind getting myself, Sam Dekker, Nick Johnson on Turk Telekom with him a few years ago,” Ennis says. “Kyle is such a talented player and we have always had a great chemistry playing together from Houston Rockets to Telekom and now in Venice.”
This time around, Ennis is playing with a third Canadian in the big man Kabengele.
"This is my first time playing with Mfiondu. We are both from Toronto and I watched his career from college," Ennis notes. "I knew that we would play well together. He’s having a monster season and showing how good he is. I think after this year, he deserves to get a chance to show he belongs back in the NBA."
Reyer is Ennis’s second club in Italy after playing parts of five seasons in Turkiye for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Turk Telekom and Tofas. Last season, he helped Napoli win the Italian Cup in his first season in Italy.
“Naples was amazing – one of my favorite stops of my European career," he said. "We had a great group of players that loved playing and being around each other. For me, I wanted something new after being in Turkiye. I enjoyed Turkiye, but I wanted a different market and Italy checked the boxes."
After the Italian season was over, Ennis decided against returning home and joined Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in mid-May for the final stretch of the Israeli regular season and playoffs.
“I didn’t know what to expect. At first, I didn’t want to go. My wife and I just had a baby in April and I was ready to get home. But again, a gut feeling told me it was something that I should do, like signing with Naples," Ennis remembers.
"Everything about that move was eye-opening. The coach, the fans, the organization, the city and players were all top of the line. I joined the team to win the championship and we were one game from achieving that goal. I really wanted to give that club a championship and we were close. I had an amazing time in Tel Aviv and loved my time with the club.”
Now the goal is for big things with Reyer, and the team is playing extremely well with six wins in the last seven games for an 8-6 record and a solid chance for a top-two spot in Group B. Included in the recent run was an 81-74 home victory over Valencia Basket in Round 13.
“It was a good test. We approach every game the same since we had a lot of ground to make up after how the season started. The first round wasn’t pretty playing them and we wanted to continue building and stacking wins. They have a really good team,” says Ennis, who picked up 12 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists in the win over Valencia.
Ennis knows the team is playing well, but they are still missing two pieces.
When asked what the team needs to be successful, he said: “Health is important. We still aren’t 100% and hope to get Xavier Munford and Rodney McGruder back. We know what works for us and how we have to play. It’s up to us to keep playing for each other like we have all season. With a healthy team the sky is the limit.”
All thanks to the EuroCup version of Team Canada.