The 2011 Pan-Am Games was supposed to be the first time Team USA brought back a gold medal since Michael Jordan did it in 1983. That will not be the case, however, as Lorenzo Mata-Real and Mexico's national team picked up a 71-55 victory to advance to the gold medal game while sending the USA to play for Bronze.

Mexico certainly wasn't a team to overlook, as I wrote in the game preview, but it didn't seem as though that was the problem for head coach Nate Tibbetts and his crew of D-League players. Instead, their lack of chemistry and any sort of prolonged training camp seemed to do them in as their shooting couldn't overcome some sloppy play.

USA was led by Leo Lyons with 13 points, though eight of those came early in the game, while Jerome Dyson had 10 points and six turnovers. Blake Ahearn played well while he was in, scoring nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.

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The 2011 Pan-Am Games didn't go exactly as planned on Friday night as Team USA dropped a winnable game to Uruguay, but it didn't matter as the team made up of NBA Development League players have made it to the medal round regardless. The American team will play Mexico at 2 p.m. ET to determine one half of Sunday's gold medal game in Guadalajara.

Team USA will more than likely once again with a starting lineup that includes Jerome Dyson and Donald Sloan in the backcourt, Renaldo Major and Leo Lyons on the wings and Greg Stiemsma manning the middle. It shouldn't surprise anyone if the bench plays a big role, though, as D-League veterans Blake Ahearn, Marcus Lewis, Lance Thomas and Justin Dentmon all played important roles in the team's two victories earlier in the tournament.

Mexico's only loss in the tournament came at the hands of the Puerto Rico's National Team -- featuring Jose Juan Barea and Renaldo Balkman -- so they definitely won't be an easy team to get by if the USA is able to move on toward the gold medal. The team's best players, or at least the names most recognizable to American fans, are Lorenzo Mata-Real, Orlando Mendez-Valdez, Jovan Harris, Adam Parada and Christopher Hernandez.

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The 2011 Pan-American Games have not begun pretty for Team USA as they've had to mount comebacks against both the Dominican Republic and Brazil after falling behind early. The American team made up of players signed to play in the NBA Development League will finish its opening round play against Uruguay on Friday night in Guadalajara. But before that happens, Blake Ahearn and company talked about Thursday's victory.

Ahearn scored 21 points off the bench and his play, along with fellow reserve Justin Dentmon and starter Jerome Dyson as part of a three-guard lineup, helped USA recover from what was a 17-point deficit at one point in the game. The United States went on a 50-22 over the game's last 14 minutes and 51 seconds to secure the victory.

"Yeah, when you get out there on the floor a little bit, it's a little bit easier to play. We knew coming in that at times it's going to be tough just with the amount of guys," Ahearn said of his performance. "I was able to get a couple of layups, knock some shots down, and coach stuck with me and we just took it from there. Like I said, it wasn't just me, there were a whole bunch of guys doing it and that's what makes it the most fun."

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Team USA once again got off to a bad start in their game Thursday night at the 2011 Pan-American Games, at one time trailing by 17 points, but head coach Nate Tibbetts made the right adjustments for the third quarter in order to defeat Brazil. Blake Ahearn spurred the second half comeback, scoring 21 points as Team USA picked up the 88-77 victory.

Ahearn made three of his five attempts from beyond the arc and predictably made all six of his free-throw attempts. His greatest feat may have been breaking up a potential fracas late in the game, jumping into a mess of bodies before doing his best impression of legendary bar bouncer James Dalton (actual video here).

Tibbetts went with the same starting lineup he did in Game 1 versus the Dominican Republic, but the rotation was changed quite a bit in the second half as Ahearn and Justin Dentmon joined starter Jerome Dyson to form a three-man backcourt. As a result, there was much better ball movement, allowing the offense to flow quite a bit better as players were able to get into the flow of the game.

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Men's basketball actually began on Wednesday at the Pan-Am Games, but Team USA's victory over the Dominican Republic seemed to be overlooked by my basketball loving brethren. Thursday night's game for the USA, made up of players signed to play in the NBA Development League this season, should get a bit more publicity however as the game against Brazil will be played live on ESPN2.

Team USA will need better play from its backcourt, a point I mentioned in Wednesday's recap, if they're going to start the tournament with a 2-0 record. Coach Nate Tibbetts started Jerome Dyson and Donald Sloan in the backcourt against the Dominican Republic, but Dyson didn't look to move the ball around as often as I would have liked and Sloan is a much better player with the ball in his hands as opposed to playing second fiddle. In all actuality, it seemed the second-team tandem of Blake Ahearn and Justin Dentmon made up a better backcourt as they offer an interestic dynamic that's difficult to match up with on the offensive end.

The bigs will also need to be more consistent, though part of the problem on Wednesday night may have been due in part to foul trouble fooling with the rotation. Greg Stiemsma and Brian Butch totaled less than 25 total minutes on the court combined; while Lance Thomas and Marcus Lewis filled in as "bigs" admirably in the second half, I'm of the opinion that the team would fare just fine with more Stiemsma on the defensive end.

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Lance Thomas and Marcus Lewis came up huge in the second half of Team USA's victory over the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night. The American team made up of NBA Development League players will continue their run toward the gold on ESPN2 Thursday night, but USA Basketball was nice enough to supply quotes from Wednesday's win that seemed worthy of posting here.

Thomas, a Duke Blue Devils grad, was never as impressive with the Austin Toros last season in the D-League as he was for Team USA on Wednesday night -- a phenomenon briefly touched on here -- but the forward played down his 15-point, 16-rebound contributions when asked about them after the game.

"I saw plays that were there and I just tried to make them. That's just the way I've always played the game," Thomas said. "I know no other way but to play hard and if there was a rebound to be made or a play to be made on the hustle at the end of the game that's the play I made."

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Team USA got a good start in men's basketball at the 2011 Pan-American Games on Wednesday night as they eked out a victory over Jack Michael Martinez and the Dominican Republic National Team. Team USA's quest toward its first gold medal, with a roster that features D-League players for the first time ever, will continue Thursday night when they play Brazil live on ESPN2 at 7:55 CT.

Brazil doesn't have any recognizable names on its roster as they're all either unable to find insurance to cover their playing in the Pan-Am games or have began play with their various regular season teams in lieu of competing in Guadalajara, Mexico. Considering it's going to be actual live competitive basketball available in high definition on the television set, however, everyone may as well tune in!

[Update: Results here if interested!]

Since it's difficult to really write a preview for tonight's game featuring players I'm not familiar with (there are no Jack Michael Martinez's or big men that played at Bemidji State on Brazil's roster for some odd reason), some extended thoughts on USA's victory over the Dominican Republic are included below.

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Team USA didn't exactly start strong at the 2011 Pan-Am Games, but the men's basketball team was able to come back and defeat the Dominican Republic National Team on Wednesday night. The team made up of NBA Development League players was trailed 37-29 at halftime, but came back to claim a 77-76 victory in the end.

Marcus Lewis, a veteran in the D-League with the Tulsa 66ers, came up huge with a pair of blocks and what amounted to be the game-winning free-throw in the closing seconds. Team USA's leading scorer, Lance Thomas, finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds after what can only be described as a sub-par first half.

The game's best player was, as predicted, Dominicana's Jack Michael Martinez. Martinez finished the game with 31 points and 10 rebounds after totaling 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half, but his teammates couldn't do enough to help the Dominican Republic pull out the victory.

More thoughts on this game can be found here.