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USA Basketball's Colangelo Says Team Will Continue Making Las Vegas Summer Home

USA Basketball "has found a summer home in Las Vegas" each year since '06, and it now appears the city "will continue to host" the team, according to Steve Carp of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. Las Vegas Events and USA Basketball "have been in negotiations to extend the current deal," which expires in '16. USA Basketball Chair Jerry Colangelo said, "We love it here. When something's not broken, you don't fix it. As far as we're concerned, this is our second home." He added, "We may not have a minicamp here (in Las Vegas) next summer. ... We may decide to do a big media blitz in New York to announce the team. But we will have a portion of our training camp in Las Vegas and also play a (pre-Olympic) game here." Las Vegas Events President Pat Christenson said that with the Thomas & Mack Center undergoing a $70M renovation and the new 20,000-seat MGM/AEG arena set to open next spring, there are "more and better options for USA Basketball than ever before." Colangelo said that with the "hospitality shown the national team by UNLV and the use of the Mendenhall Center and Wynn Las Vegas as the team's headquarters, the idea of looking elsewhere isn't realistic." Christenson: "We want to make it special and have things like a Fan Jam, get the kids who come here for the high school tournaments involved, do some things with the NBA and really make it big." But Carp notes what would "really be big is for FIBA ... to bring its premier event -- the World Cup -- to Las Vegas." The '19 event "will be played in China, and if the U.S. is successful in bidding" for the '24 Games, having the '23 World Cup in the U.S. "would make a lot of sense" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 8/14).

GOLD, JERRY: In Sacramento, Ailene Voisin writes Colangelo "has transformed USA Basketball into a global power plant," and he has "every intention of sticking around for the next act." But the "next act figures to be a doozy." Significant changes in international basketball "are expected" after the '16 Rio Games, including a "major scheduling adjustment, possible player age limits for major competitions and a strong philosophical push by the governing body (FIBA) to elevate the stature of the World Cup above the Olympics." The atmosphere at FIBA World Cups is a "passion play of partisan flag-waving and screaming fans regaled in their country's colors." But in the U.S., and for NBAers, the Olympics "are No. 1," while the World Cup is "regarded as a dress rehearsal." Colangelo: "People in FIBA, I think their intention is to make the World Cup the focus and the Olympics to be toned down, basically like soccer." Voisin writes Colangelo's "most difficult task" will be choosing coach Mike Krzyzewski’s successor. Speculation "hit the gym this week, with Gregg Popovich the obvious and overwhelming choice if he’s still interested, willing to participate in the marketing/promotional aspect of the job" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 8/14).

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