Kyle Wiltjer sends a message to'Olimpia Milano
Looking ahead to Reyer Venezia-Olimpia Milano, which will be played on Sunday, Kyle Wiltjer sends a message to the biancorossi. It would be important for us to win in order to be able to close the regular season in third position, but above all it is fundamental to finish well in order to have the favorable inertia in view of the playoffs – he notes during an interview granted to the ‘Corriere Veneto’ -: to face a very strong team like Milan we have to play our basketball, that is fast and aggressive. We must not distort ourselves. Defensively we have to be very strong mentally and focus on the individual characteristics of our opponents.”
Wiltjer is now an indispensable reference point for Reyer: the Canadian forward, confirmed in the summer along with Alessandro Lever, Amedeo Tessitori, Carl Wheatle, Giga Janelidze and Jordan Parks, has shown during the season all his value, imposing himself as one of the most reliable players on the orogranata roster. A solid bond with Venice, sealed by the multi-year renewal signed in June 2024, when the player himself had declared that he firmly believed in the club’s ambitions.
The challenge against Olimpia Milano thus takes on a considerable specific weight in terms of the ranking. Reyer is currently in fourth position with 36 points, the same as Milan, behind Brescia and Virtus Bologna paired at the top with 40. Conquering the third place would mean for the Laggunarians a home-court advantage in the playoffs, a goal that Wiltjer and his teammates are pursuing with determination in the final days of the regular season.
The moment, however, is not without extra-court tensions. Market rumors are multiplying around the Venetian bench: Neven Spahija will not be confirmed at the end of the season and the Orogranata management is already working to identify his successor. The first name on the list was that of Luca Banchi, technical commissioner of the Italian national team, who, however, decided to decline the offer in order to focus exclusively on the Azzurri project launched in September 2025. A renouncement that does not stem from a refusal towards Venice, but from the desire not to disperse energies on two such demanding fronts.
The candidates remaining in the running for the Orogranata bench include names of depth: the Venetian management has already initiated the first contacts with the agents of Sasha Djordjevic, a Serbian coach who has already coached Olimpia Milano, Benetton Treviso and Virtus Bologna in Italy. The suggestion linked to Ettore Messina, who left the Olimpia Milano bench last November and has a contract with the white-and-red club expiring in June, has not gone away either. Also on the list are Paolo Galbiati, currently at Baskonia, and Francesco Tabellini, who has just returned from his experience on the Paris Basketball bench.
