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THE NBL may have abandoned plans to participate in the alternate Las Vegas Summer League in July but the league still will boast a strong presence.

Adelaide 36ers’ Joey Wright, Wollongong’s Gordie McLeod, Cairns’ Aaron Fearne, New Zealand’s Dean Vickerman and Townsville’s Shawn Dennis all will coach at the Worldwide Invitational Camp in Las Vegas from July 13-16.

That means the NBL still will have a prominent, albeit unofficial presence at the tournament which runs alongside the NBA’s Summer League at the UNLV campus.

Originally it was going to be an NBL event but the league withdrew when certain conditions were not met by local organisers.

Former Crocs assistant and 36ers second assistant Liam Flynn, now coaching Nelson Giants in the NZ NBL, Igor Perovic from the Walter Tigers Tubingen in the German BBL and Brian Lynch from Limburg United in the Belgian Ehtias League complete the 2014 Worldwide Invitational coaching staff.

“Gordie, Fearney and I traditionally go to Las Vegas,” Wright said today.

“It’s not just about scouting but also educating ourselves as coaches.

“There’s no way to continue to educate ourselves if we don’t go to Vegas and attend the clinics.”

The Summer League will be played at the UNLV Student Wellness and Recreation Center, some 500m from UNLV’s Cox Pavilion, home of the NBA Summer League.

“We pay our own way to go and for teams like ourselves (Adelaide), Wollongong and Cairns, it is important for our recruiting,” Wright said.

“We can’t pay what Perth, Sydney and Melbourne can pay for players.

“The money teams have pulled out but the small money teams are going.”

Players who register to play must be 20 years or older and either have completed their NCAA eligibility or be looking to forego their college eligibility to become a professional player.

The eight teams will consist of a maximum of eight players, giving participants a solid chance to showcase their skills in front of Australian, European and Asian scouts.

IT WOULD require a miracle for Indiana to get past reigning dual-NBA champion Miami to pinch the Eastern Conference title.

The Heat, who stole Game 2 in Indianapolis, today stormed to a 3-1 lead in the series and the best the Pacers now can hope for is to snatch a game back at home.

But whether it ultimately is 4-2 or 4-1, the Pacers are a beaten team and the Heat one win from their fourth consecutive NBA Championship Series.

Miami today won 102-90 but it was more comfortable than it appears, LeBron James with 32 points on 13-of-21 shooting, 10 boards and five assists.

His shot-clock-beating 3-point bomb and coast-to-coast dunk were vintage James in a 14-point third period.

But if this series wasn’t already over when the Heat tied it at 1-1 in Game 2 in Indiana, it certainly looked it in Game 3 in Miami.

The Pacers led by 15 points in the second quarter but gave up not two or three consecutive turnovers, but five.

Five.

Talk about committing suicide.

By halftime Miami was back in it and it never was going to lose after the interval, further buoyed by Ray Allen's 4-of-4 threes.

That made the series 2-1.

Now it is 3-1.

And for all of the Pacers’ bravado – Paul George’s mind-boggling “We outplayed them” or Lance Stephenson’s earlier “It’s a sign of weakness” referring to James’ trash-talking – the simple truth is Miami is the better team.

And Indiana knows it.

AS expected, two-year Adelaide 36ers guard Jason Cadee today formally was announced as a new King, the talented tyro returning home to Sydney where he was born.

Having spoken with Jason during the 2014 Grand Final Series, I know he was loving the atmosphere in Adelaide and keen to stay.

But the 36ers dawdled on making him an offer and the Kings stepped up.

The 36ers’ reluctance to fully commit to a new deal for the playmaking 3-point shooter – they never put an offer to him – made it appear he was not in future planning even though he had played for Adelaide coach Joey Wright for four years, with two at Gold Coast.

Brought to Adelaide on “mad money” when previous coach Marty Clarke was trying to fast-track his evolution, my info is Cadee was ready to take a lesser deal to stay in the City of Churches.

But the club never quite got around to it and so it is back to Sin City where Cadee is sure to blossom as his game continues to mature.

THE Hudson Maher Foundation’s Gala Dinner – the 10th year of the annual function to support children requiring bone marrow transplants inter-and-intra-state – is coming up on Saturday, July 26.

More than 70 families and the purchase of much-needed equipment and services for these families and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital over those 10 years has been made possible by functions such as the Gala Dinner.

For more details, contact the Hudson Maher Foundation via mobile at 0403877200, or at PO Box 105, Kent Town, SA 5071.

Or you can go to the website at www.hudsonmaher.com.au or even send an email to tanya@hudsonmaher.com.au to make a booking.

TOMORROW: Take a trip back to October 2003 as the 36ers take on the NZ Breakers.