MIAMI (United States) - After the first round of the Group stage of the BCL Americas we already have an idea of who is who in the competition. For this second stage (January 28 to February 2) we are anxious to know if the trends will continue or if a team or two will turn the tables and surprise us all.

These are some of the questions we ask ourselves at the beginning of this second stage:

Will the Brazilian teams maintain their superiority?

The performance of the clubs from the Brazilian NBB was amazing in the first round. The defending champion, Flamengo (Group D), Sao Paulo (Group B) and Minas (Group C) finished undefeated with a 6-0 record between the three and leaders in their respective groups.

The three teams were above +30 in the ratio of points for and against in their combined games which shows how completely they dominated their opponents. The common denominator of the three was a balanced game and being highly effective from long distance (the three teams shot over 37% from beyond the arc).

BCLA opponents are going to have to make big adjustments in the next and following windows to try to bring someone down on the way to the Final 8.

How will Real Esteli respond after a disappointing start?

If there was a team that disappointed at the start of the tournament, it was reigning runners-up, Real Estelí. The "Tren del Norte" played in front of their fans and left empty-handed finishing the first round last in their group. Things do not get easier for Real as they now must play two games on the road versus Stingers and Cangrejeros who both saw success in the previous window.

The Nicaraguan team's problem was not executing their offense, in fact they averaged 84.5 - points. The difficulty was on the free throw line where they barely shot 50-percent in the two games (25-50) and on the defensive side, allowing 87.5 per contest which is way too many in this high quality tournament.

Is Caboclo still a difference maker?

Basketball is a sport where the better team usually prevails, but there are always certain players who stand above the rest and can be the difference in winning and losing. That was the case of power forward Bruno Caboclo who proved to be a factor on both sides of the court for Sao Paulo in round one.

The 26-year-old player, with a recent past in the NBA and in the French league, was magnificent in the first matches and finished as the leader in efficiency with 27.0. In addition, he averaged 20.5 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocks, not counting the number of shots that he changed and the "highlights" with his spectacular dunks. With Caboclo on the court, São Paulo can never be counted out.

Will Cangrejeros be able to repeat round one success?

From the first matches there were questions surrounding Santurce. They had several weeks without activity after being eliminated in the first round of the Puerto Rico BSN playoffs and because they put together a practically new squad, except for Filiberto Rivera and Isaac Sosa.

Elías "Larry" Ayuso's team adapted well in a very short time and showed that they have a lot of talent dominating start to finish as they were only down on the scoreboard for a span of two minutes and 15 seconds in total over their first two BCLA contests. As round two is close to beginning and with their domestic league out of season, the situation remains that their players could be out of rhythm. It remains to be seen if they will again have the ability to respond.

FIBA