Recap: Day Two of the Pan-American Games Basketball Tournament

By Chris Godfrey | Jul 23, 2015

The men’s basketball tournament, one of the marquee events at Toronto’s 2015 Pan-American Games kicked off on Tuesday and continued last night. Games are played consecutively, which means that four of the teams will be playing their final game of the tournament tonight. Here’s an update on the happenings that have taken place so far.

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Jamal Murray is as good as advertised. The Kentucky commit has been Canada’s best player in the tournament (and that includes 2013 number one overall draft pick Anthony Bennett). He scored 20 points in a close win over Argentina last night, scoring 15 of those points during an early outburst at the beginning of the game. What Kentucky has in Murray is now a bit more clear. He’s not actually a point guard, but he is a streaky scorer that can set the gym on fire if he gets hot. We’ve even got video.

As it turns out, the Pan-American Games will not be a coming out party for Oregon’s rising sophomore Dillon Brooks. After dominating for Canada at the U19 World Championships, Brooks has been a non-factor for the Canadians. He only managed two points in seven minutes against the Dominican Republic, and he didn’t even get off the bench in a closer game against Argentina. Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer is similarly glued to the bench. He has played less than a minute through the first two games of the tournament.
Seton Hall’s Angel Delgado got off to a promising start to the tournament. He scored 15 points against a Canadian front line that included NBA Players such as Anthony Bennett, Andrew Nicholson, and Sim Bhullar. However, he only managed to log three minutes of game action in the D.R.’s second game against Mexico. It’s possible that Delgado was being rested. His team is currently squaring off against Argentina as I write this, a game where his services will surely be needed extensively.

As I predicted, Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine has carved a niche as the team’s Swiss army knife. He’s played four positions in the tournament so far, and he scored 15 points in last night’s dismantling of Rick Pitino’s hapless Puerto Rico team. This came after him playing only three minutes in the opener against Venezuela, so his place in the rotation is still unclear.
Kaleb Tarczewski has been a dominant force on the glass, which will give Arizona fans plenty of reasons to smile. Zeus has consistently outplayed NBA veteran Ryan Hollins throughout the first two games. Taurean Prince, who I projected to be one of the team’s benchwarmers, actually contributed 10 points last night. He’s received major minutes in both games. Shawn Long of Louisiana Lafayette looks to be the odd man out of the rotation so far. He didn’t play at all against Venezuela in the opener, and only played 10 minutes against Puerto Rico. There’s a lot of scouts hoping he gets an opportunity to showcase his talents at this tournament, as it will be one of the few opportunities to see him against top competition.

Next: Harry Giles Narrows His List to Five Schools

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