Pan Am Games - What they've learnt

BUENOS AIRES (Martìn Seldes' Brave New World) - Three American teams have already secured their London 2012 places for next year. The USA bought their tickets as the 2010 World Champions, while Argentina and Brazil won their spots in the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship.
You would therefore expect these three nations to currently be the best teams of the continent.

However, in the Pan American games, the three chose less than a secondary team with only the North Americans making it to the Semi-Finals.

Other coaches, such as Puerto Rico’s Flor Meléndez and Dominican Republic’s John Hubbard, decided to build a team combining some of their top players and youngsters.

The most surprising side was Mexico. The host team took profit from the support of the crowd to march all the way to the Gold medal game.

But the most important thing about the Pan Am Games was what was left for next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament and Olympic participants.

Let’s go team by team:

United States (ranked 1st in FIBA ranking) arguably learnt nothing. The D-League players have no chance of playing in London and the only little lesson they could have learnt is that they do not have the sport’s supremacy only because they wear the US shirt.

It’s a pity USA Basketball missed the chance to shortlist some players from the NBA. Many are desperate to play some ball and could have appreciated an invitation to Guadalajara. On the other side, we don’t know if most of the NBA players even know about the existence of the Pan Am Games.

Argentina (3rd) went to the tournament to reinforce a project and try to form players that could join the first team in London. A couple of promising youngsters were included together with good players from the Argentine National League to form a team that was expected to win a medal.
 
“(Marcos) D’Elia could become the next (Fabricio) Oberto” said the national team head coach Julio Lamas, who stayed in Argentina during the Games, as soon as the tournament ended. Should the 19-year old centre join the team next year, one of the team’s goals would be achieved.

D’Elia made himself known in Argentina when he carried the side to the FIBA U19 World Championship Semi-Finals. After 11 games of the 2011/2012 National League, the 2.06m player averages 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in only 10 minutes. Those numbers could seem insufficient for the supporters’ eyes, but D’Elía appears as the only player with the height and talent to take Oberto’s place, in case the 36-year old centre doesn’t make it to London. Indeed, players that are taller than 2,05m are not very common in Argentina.

Argentina finished the tournament in seventh place, their worst position since 1987, a far cry from their only Gold won in Mar del Plata 1995, the same city where Manu Ginóbili and Co. have just topped the FIBA Americas.
 
Brazil (13th) were led to an unexpected fifth place by Guilherme Giovannoni and Marcelo Machado, two key players during the FIBA Americas. Ruben Magnano must have shouted, yelled and kicked something after the team spread a 20-point lead to lose two consecutive games to miss the chance to win their fourth Pan Am Gold medal in a row. At least, no one was hurt in the dressing rooms.

The only things Brazil can take from the Guadalajara to London are the continuity of the good team’s chemistry and their style: hard defence, low-post game and good shooters.

Puerto Rico (16th) were the only team to have a team to include NBA players. José Barea, Renaldo Balkman and Carlos Arroyo travelled to Mexico, even though the latter did not enter the court due to injury.

It was redemption for them. Puerto Rico were one of the big losers of FIBA Americas Championship. Despite their fourth place finish, the Caribbean team were expecting to get a direct pass to London. It was incredible that Barea himself had the chance to redeem himself from his missed last-second shot against Argentina in the Mar del Plata Semi, as he scored the winning basket in the Pan Am Gold medal game.

Four of the five national team’s starters were there as Daniel Santiago was fully recovered from a plantar fasciitis. Coach Flor Meléndez’ tears after the final were there to confirm how important the tournament was for the National Olympic Committee (NOC) that collected two of their six gold medals in basketball.

Together with gold, Meléndez added talent to the list of possible players to take part in next year’s Olympic qualifier. Small forward Edward Ulibes was one of the biggest surprises for the coach and teammates. It wouldn’t be crazy to see him next year.

Finally, Dominican Republic (25th) ratified they are already part of the American Basketball elite. But before talking about the team, I must mention the man of the tournament: Jack Michael Martínez. Yes, the same guy who was crying and praying after one of his teammates got badly injured in Argentina, the same big guy who danced in the middle of the court together with the Puerto Ricans after achieving their best FIBA Americas position ever. Yes, the same guy I could walk with into a war zone, alongside brothers in arms, surrounded by enemy soldiers looking for a to save the wounded.

Jack Michael, as everyone knows you, ended the tournament as the top scorer (21.2 points per game) and rebounder (11.4 rebounds) to lead his team to a Semi-Final.

The rest of the team collected more experience and some of them could definitely join the first team in the qualifier...

Martìn Seldes
FIBA