Debora Rubi

TERRA USA

The USA tried something new this year in the Pan Am Games, fielding a team full of D League Stars instead of the usual college player it sends to the games. While the format was new, the result was the same. The US has not won a Pan American gold medal in the men's basketball tournament since 1983.

Maybe the Pan Am Games don't mean anything to the NBA, or team USA (which is really one in the same), but they should have meant something more to the D League. It has not been released how they players were picked, but it should have offered its irrefutably best players, and they should have given more to catch the eyes of NBA scouts.

The US shot a measly 23 percent from the field in the final. That has nothing to do with the talent level of the players, and likely less to do with the Mexican defense, its just a lack of interest.

With the NBA so closely related to Team USA, if negotiations are not resolved during the lockout, or bad feelings linger through the summer, there is still a probability the D League could be used to field a team for the Olympics, which does not bode well for the US if the Pan Am Games are any reflection on their potential.

The 2011 Pan-Am Games via Terra

Terra transmits in 13 channels, live and in high definition (HD), the Guadalajara Pan-Am Games with simultaneous web, tablet, and cellphone signals.

With a team of 220 professionals, the biggest Internet company in Latin America will have the most complete coverage of the event, reporting from Mexico each moment of the competition in text, photos, videos, info graphics, and interactive features.