2025-2026 Season
- Thread starter paultzman
- Start date
passitback
Well-known member
fan since 65
Well-known member
Methinks Maher goes there for pizza and the views...
They are very good views
passitback
Well-known member
Ha. I was gonna post a couple of pics I’ve taken.
Never post his photo. A die hard true blue Dookie. Duke will always be our enemy. We never got an important call when we played them. Rant over. Apologizes Mods.
Sadly, Oheka is in bankruptcy.
Always loved Rose's pizza. Which reminds me, the pizza here in Florida really sucks!
The bar and restaurant and weddings still going on I believe. I’m still getting emails from the restaurant
Yes you are right. They will have to carry out Gary in a casket. He knows all the angles or has known all the angles
Definitely will be watching a game or 2 of the away games there after work
Gary is like a cat with nine lives. He and his lawyers will find a way out of it.
Filing Bankruptcy is probably their way out of it. They will work something out with creditors, restructure and keep the party going.
Seems practical decision by Rick if true, had to get Ruben practicing while Lefty expendable.
Two selections. The same university. Opposite decisions.
Rúben Prey was barred from the EuroBasket. Lefteris Liotopoulos played for Greece's U20 team and trained with the senior national team, with the blessing of coach Rick Pitino. It's the new reality of the NCAA.
borrachalaranja.com/p/destino-riga…
It was clear: Rúben Prey would not be at EuroBasket 2025. The national selector explained that the University of St. John's, in New York, and his coach, Rick Pitino, did not authorize the presence of the 19-year-old Portuguese winger/post and 2.08 meters in the final phase of the race. "They were perementory: at that time, no way," said the coach then, revealing that the National Technical Director, Nuno Manaia, had traveled to the United States to try to unblock the case and returned with a refusal.
The Portuguese Basketball Federation also tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain authorization for Prey to participate in the European Sub20, Division B, played this summer. The answer was negative again, making any presence of the player in the national teams in this preparation cycle unfeasible.
However, the same university and the same coach opened the door to another sophomore to live an experience that was denied to Prey. Lefteris Liotopoulos, a 19-year-old Greek base and one of the greatest promises of Hellenic basketball, played the European Sub20 - Division A, and was part of the preparation of the main team for EuroBasket, before being cut from the final call.
Even without a real prospect of entering Vassilis Spanoulis' 12, the young base had access to training, private games and daily conviviality with Giannis Antetokounmpo and other top figures of Greek basketball, with "total support" from Pitino, as he said in an interview with the Eurohoops portal:
"It's something I've dreamed of since I was very young. It's a real honor for me - for any kid, I would say. Being here with those I've followed since I was little, that I admire and that I have as models. Giannis Antetokounmpo, for example, is one of the best players in the world. It's a magical moment and I'm trying to live every minute and remove all the possible experience."
"Coach Pitino came to Heraklion to see me (during the U20 European Championship). We talked about it and he was very happy. Of course he let me go and told me to enjoy, enjoy and take everything he could from this experience. What advice did you give me? Not to hesitate in anything. It doesn't matter that others are older - in fact, everyone is older than me - every moment is an opportunity in my favor and I must get from it all the experience I can."
Liotopoulos will be sophomore in 2025-26, as will Rúben Prey, and also has university appointments at the beginning of the season. Still, he had the opportunity to play the U20 European Championship and live a summer of learning with Greece's main team. The explanation may be in Pitino's relations with Hellenic basketball.
Living legend of the game, the coach was the coach of Greece in 2021 and guided the Panathinaikos in two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20), creating bonds with influential figures of the federation and the Greek panorama. This proximity, fueled by years of collaboration, may have facilitated an understanding: give international experience to a local promise, without jeopardising St.'s plans. John's.
In the case of Portugal, the scenario was different. Rúben Prey would have practically guaranteed the presence on Mário Gomes' list for EuroBasket, even more so after Gonçalo Delgado's injury, who left the team without one of its main references in the frontcourt. The talent and status of the post formed at Paço de Arcos, Clube Atlético de Queluz and Joventut de Badalona did not put him as a simple apprentice, but as a real piece of rotation, capable of adding quality and versatility to the team, as happened, moreover, in one of the qualifying windows.
Two selections. The same university. Opposite decisions.Rúben Prey was barred from the EuroBasket. Lefteris Liotopoulos played for Greece's U20 team and trained with the senior national team, with the blessing of coach Rick Pitino. It's the new reality of the NCAA.
borrachalaranja.com/p/destino-riga…
It was clear: Rúben Prey would not be at EuroBasket 2025. The national selector explained that the University of St. John's, in New York, and his coach, Rick Pitino, did not authorize the presence of the 19-year-old Portuguese winger/post and 2.08 meters in the final phase of the race. "They were perementory: at that time, no way," said the coach then, revealing that the National Technical Director, Nuno Manaia, had traveled to the United States to try to unblock the case and returned with a refusal.
The Portuguese Basketball Federation also tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain authorization for Prey to participate in the European Sub20, Division B, played this summer. The answer was negative again, making any presence of the player in the national teams in this preparation cycle unfeasible.
However, the same university and the same coach opened the door to another sophomore to live an experience that was denied to Prey. Lefteris Liotopoulos, a 19-year-old Greek base and one of the greatest promises of Hellenic basketball, played the European Sub20 - Division A, and was part of the preparation of the main team for EuroBasket, before being cut from the final call.
Even without a real prospect of entering Vassilis Spanoulis' 12, the young base had access to training, private games and daily conviviality with Giannis Antetokounmpo and other top figures of Greek basketball, with "total support" from Pitino, as he said in an interview with the Eurohoops portal:
"It's something I've dreamed of since I was very young. It's a real honor for me - for any kid, I would say. Being here with those I've followed since I was little, that I admire and that I have as models. Giannis Antetokounmpo, for example, is one of the best players in the world. It's a magical moment and I'm trying to live every minute and remove all the possible experience."
"Coach Pitino came to Heraklion to see me (during the U20 European Championship). We talked about it and he was very happy. Of course he let me go and told me to enjoy, enjoy and take everything he could from this experience. What advice did you give me? Not to hesitate in anything. It doesn't matter that others are older - in fact, everyone is older than me - every moment is an opportunity in my favor and I must get from it all the experience I can."
Liotopoulos will be sophomore in 2025-26, as will Rúben Prey, and also has university appointments at the beginning of the season. Still, he had the opportunity to play the U20 European Championship and live a summer of learning with Greece's main team. The explanation may be in Pitino's relations with Hellenic basketball.
Living legend of the game, the coach was the coach of Greece in 2021 and guided the Panathinaikos in two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20), creating bonds with influential figures of the federation and the Greek panorama. This proximity, fueled by years of collaboration, may have facilitated an understanding: give international experience to a local promise, without jeopardising St.'s plans. John's.
In the case of Portugal, the scenario was different. Rúben Prey would have practically guaranteed the presence on Mário Gomes' list for EuroBasket, even more so after Gonçalo Delgado's injury, who left the team without one of its main references in the frontcourt. The talent and status of the post formed at Paço de Arcos, Clube Atlético de Queluz and Joventut de Badalona did not put him as a simple apprentice, but as a real piece of rotation, capable of adding quality and versatility to the team, as happened, moreover, in one of the qualifying windows.
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More likely wanted Prey practicing with the team more so than Lefty. Injuries can happen anytime anywhere.