NBA predictions from Mr. Flaherty

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Mr. Flaherty knows sports and especially the current climate of the NBA.

Mr. Flaherty, our new Dean of Discipline here at Elder High school, has a not so secret love of all sports. WWE, NFL, NBA, NCAA, you name it, he knows it. Due to his vast knowledge of the NBA, I caught up with him and asked him his thoughts 20 games in to this season.

“I still don’t see anyone beating the Warriors come April,” said Flaherty, “They’ve got too many weapons offensively and not a lot of people can hang with them. The only way to beat them is to outscore them because they traded away their defense. The Spurs are the only team out west that I see giving them a tough time.”

I still don’t see anyone beating the Warriors come April.

— Mr. Flaherty

“As for Russ, I think he’s gonna get tired here soon. He is like Harden in the sense that his team relies so heavily on him but he’s gonna get worn down whereas Harden isn’t. Westbrook takes over a game because of his athleticism and his give it all mindset, Harden is a sharpshooter who is starting to dish well too.”

“Another team who is god out west but is inconsistent is the Clippers. If they stay healthy I think they could scare the Warriors in the playoffs. As for the East? All those teams are too inconsistent. The Cavs for example, they go as Kevin Love goes, but he’s so shaky they won’t repeat as champs. You never know if he’s gonna give you 40 in a half or 40 in a week, too shaky for me. Kyrie and Lebron are gonna get theirs but the supporting cast around them isn’t what it needs to be for them to be a great team. Down 3-1 last year and they come back? That was the perfect storm and I don’t foresee that happening again.”

Recent performance by Durant, Westbrook, and Harden has caused speculation as to what would have happened if the “Big Three” on the Thunder stuck together. Flaherty had his fair share to say on the matter.

“I think that they would be unreal, you got them plus the Warriors, a healthy Clippers team and the Spurs battling it out for the West, that would be great basketball. If they stuck together I bet they would’ve beat the Spurs and the Heat in ’13 maybe not ’14, maybe the Warriors in ’15 and ’16 but that’s all hypothetical. I’m not a fan of players going to teams with other superstars, Lebron to Miami, KD to the Warriors that kind of stuff isn’t meant to happen, You didn’t see MJ or Magic or Bird doing stuff like that, they wanted it on their own. With players doing that stuff it makes it impossible to win on your own because other teams are too good.”

Speculation of what many call the greatest duo in college basketball history, Demarcus “Boogie” Cousins and John Wall, former Kentucky Wildcats, being on the same team again has been thrown into the public eye. Mr. Flaherty thinks not.

“I don’t think any coach wants anything to do with Cousins. He’s a great player by all means but off the court, in the locker room, just as a person in general, he’s got big time issues. Unless you’ve got a guy like Popovich (Spurs head coach) it’s not gonna work out for you. The Wizards won’t be able to get that under control with their current staff.”

“I like the Bulls and the Knicks to emerge as well as Toronto in the East. The Thunder and the Clippers emerge from the West. I still don’t think any team right now can hang with the Warriors but I guess we will find out soon.”