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.

USA Basketball at the Pan-Am Games

Apparently, the Pan-Am games have been going on for a while, but the men's basketball tournament didn't start until today. The U.S. will makes its television debut Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, but thanks to a tip from Ridiculous Upside, I was able to check out the U.S.'s opening game against the Dominican Republic this afternoon online.

A sluggish first half gave way to what became a very entertaining game, with the U.S. ultimately triumphing 77-76. The U.S. team is full of D-Leaguers, and I thought I'd give you a little breakdown of what I saw from some of the guys on Wednesday in case you, like me, would rather watch mid-level international basketball Thursday night than Game 6 of the World Series.