Pan-Am Semis: Mexico 71, USA 55

If the U.S. men's basketball team is going to bring a medal home from these Pan-Am Games, it's going to be bronze. Team USA was thoroughly outclassed by host Mexico on Saturday afternoon in Guadalajara.

I'm not going to stretch to find something positive to say about the Americans' performance. The high point was the first quarter, when the U.S. pushed the tempo, something they had waited to do until the second half in come-from-behind wins over the Dominican Republic and Brazil earlier in the week. (The U.S. apparently lost to Uruguay on Friday night in the final round of pool play, a meaningless game I didn't watch and couldn't find much information on.) Leading 15-11 after one quarter, it went downhill quickly for the U.S., which trailed by five at halftime.

This game was still entertaining to watch, however, mainly because of Mexico's guards.