MUNICH (FIBA EuroBasket 2021 Pre-Qualifiers) - With the second window now in the books, our experts take a look back and see how their predictions for the window panned out.

Igor Curkovic, Jared Grellet and Simas Baranauskas looked on for all of Thursday and Sunday's action, and now offer their reflections on how the action panned out.

With four game days behind us, is it fair to say that everything has now panned out, much as we expected it should?
IC: Yes. Not a Radiohead fan, but their 'No Alarms & No Surprises' line sums it up nicely. I did expect a bit more by Luxembourg, really thought they could give Cyprus a run for their money, but once you score 53 points at home, you're not even giving walks for one's money. I do feel like Albania deserved a bit more than 0-3, but being in a tough group with Denmark and Armenia, playing both those games away from home in a matter of days, that's a tough schedule for anybody.
JG: After some upsets and incredibly close calls in the first window, fortunately for the favored teams, unfortunately for the neutral fan, this window very much played out as expected. I called Switzerland v Slovak Republic to be close, and so it was. Perhaps I expected more of a fight from Cyprus in Portugal, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fight shown by Albania, although stringing together 40 minutes with a shallow bench appears to be their Achilles Heel.
SB: More or less, I have to agree. There weren't any shocking revelations along the way, but I'm still slightly perturbed by the sight of a winless Slovakia in Group A. That would never have happened with Radoslav Rancik around. Otherwise, the teams that were 'supposed' to challenge for Second Round spots are performing in line with what could have reasonably been expected.

Talking of things panning out how they should, any under-performers or over-performers who spring to mind?
IC: Feels like I'm pointing a gun at somebody by calling them 'under-performers', but it really is a disappointment to see Slovakia stay winless. I'd rather focus on the over-performers - Armenia are much more than Ryan Boatright! Lucas Fischer looks like a center that could play at the top level, Andrew Chrabascz has 20 points in his hands each night, and coach Niksa Bavcevic is getting it done with less than 4 points per game from the bench. Expecting them to grow even more in the Second Round.
JG: Slovakia are for me the biggest under-performers once again. Following the completion of this window, their record between this campaign and last summer's FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 European Pre-Qualifiers has dropped to a paltry 1-9 win/loss record. We continue to see their women's team impress on the biggest stages, I would love to see the men share in some of this success. Kudos to Albania, for putting in some competitive basketball in the second window.
SB: Now, I'm not going to go around pointing fingers…but I clearly expected more from Slovakia. While they are on the low, I'll just empty the bank on Mario Ihring and Michal Fusek's stocks with a long-term view. And don't even try and stop me. By the same token, Swiss stand-out Marko Mladjan and his 21-point and 18-rebound display in an overtime win against the slow-to-wake-up Slovaks was a pleasant surprise. I might need to start watching more Lions de Geneve games, I guess.

Even experts make mistakes...one thing I did not see coming in this window was:
IC: Don't know what you talking about. I got everything right.
(Okay, I had Luxembourg over Cyprus. Not a big mistake, really. I'm telling you. It's not.)
JG: I had Slovakia pinned to get off the mark...going down in overtime spoiled that idea. Also, not exactly an MVP performance from Joao Gomes going 3-of-15 from the floor, but even MVPs have off-nights...
SB: I have to admit I thought Armenia would find it a little bit more difficult without Ryan Boatright. That just goes on to prove that their recent success isn't just a one-man wonder... and more like a five-man wonder. Yup, still preeeeetty top-heavy.

A major talking point headed into this window was the missing Ryan Boatright for Armenia...but now looking back, did the Armenians actually appear more balanced?
IC: Aragad Abramian stepped up big time! He had 15 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists in his first game in the Pre-Qualifiers, looking forward to seeing him play alongside Ryan Boatright. Maybe that solves the bench scoring issues and gives Armenia some wind in their sails, they will need it in Denmark.
JG: Boatright has been a revelation for the Armenia national team...and is arguably the person more than anyone to thrust the nation into discussions of being genuine contenders, but what we saw Sunday night is that even with him out, they have found other ways to keep scoring. Still, when they play Denmark in a top-of-the-table clash in June...if I were Armenian I would not want to see him missing from the lineup again.
SB: I'd argue that going from an 3.5-point average from the bench in the past two games to a 4-point contribution from the second unit against Albania isn't that big of a leap. However, the emergence of Aragad Abramian is indeed nice little development for coach Niksa Bavcevic. A rotation of Boatright, Abramian, Tatevosyan, Hess, Chrabaszcz and Fischer? I'm intrigued, please continue...

Only one second-placed team also goes through to the Second Round. Who is in the best position, following Sunday's action, to grab this?
IC: Portugal and Cyprus look to be in a better position than Armenia, who still have to travel to Denmark and face my MVP pick Gabriel Lundberg. But somehow, it feels like Luxembourg might pull off an upset against either Portugal or Cyprus - or even both - and help Armenia/Denmark out. 
JG: Losing by 10 points on the road in Portugal does not seem that bad if you are Cyprus, right? But everything is pointing towards Denmark playing out a close game with Armenia and I think it will be the loser of this game taking out the remaining spot and Cyprus will be left as something of the unlucky losers.
SB: You heard it here first: Armenia nip Denmark for first place in Group B with a win of 8+ points in the return fixture in June; Denmark drop to second place but finish the Pre-Qualifiers with a big win in Tirana to ensure a better point differential than Cyprus and advance as the best second-placed team. I'm calling it!

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