A Painful Philly Sports Roundup

Here is my pitch for a city-wide slogan regarding the Philadelphia sports teams: Philly sports, where the hope is plentiful, but the pain and suffering is endless. That’s the kind of Tuesday it was in the Delaware Valley.

 

The day had every bit of predictable frustration you could possibly imagine. The Phillies played way past our bedtime, and gave us brief jubilation before crumbling like a cookie that you dropped in the milk and wouldn’t dare to fish out of the glass.

 

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Joel Embiid, the Sixers star player and perennial MVP candidate, was disrespected by the national media and the league alike. Just another Tuesday.

 

The Flyers (yes, the Flyers made the news cycle!) are interviewing some big name coaches. Naturally, though, the team has little direction or idea of who they’re looking for in a coach. In fact, one of the interviewed coaches sensed that, and gave a very telling quote after the interview.

 

There’s a lot to digest. So, come join me in an effort to talk myself off the proverbial ledge while digesting everything that happened Tuesday. Let’s rock.

 

Leave Joe Girardi in Atlanta

 

Oh, where to even begin with this one? The Phillies (mostly Bryce Harper) fought their way back from a late inning deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth on a two-run tank shot by Harper. The reigning MVP proved just how important he is to the team, as he drove in four of the five runs the Phillies put on the scoreboard.

 

 

Unfortunately for Harper, he could only watch as his skipper continued to mismanage the bullpen the same way he has for over two years.

 

Let’s start from the beginning. After five gritty innings from starter Kyle Gibson, Joe Girardi turned to (*gulp*) James Norwood to pitch the sixth inning of a tied ball game. Norwood proceeded to give up a home run, two singles, and a walk to load the bases without recording a single out. Then, Andrew Bellatti came in and promptly saved Girardi’s ass as well as the day for the Phils, escaping the bases-loaded-no-one-out jam by recording tree straight outs and allowing just one run.

 

Fast forward to the ninth inning. As previously mentioned, the Phillies took the lead in the top half of the inning on Harper’s tater tot shot. So, in a save situation with a one-run lead on the road against the defending champs, Girardi turned to…Nick Nelson to close it down.

 

This is no hate on Nick Nelson. He’s a fine, middle inning/low leverage situation reliever. He even pitched a scoreless eighth inning! The problem is, Girardi was trying too hard to plug a round peg into a square hole, and left Nelson in to pitch the ninth in a high leverage situation.

 

Naturally, Nelson got obliterated, as the Braves scored two runs in the bottom half to win the game before Nelson could even record an out. We won’t even discuss the little league miscue Roman Quinn and Nick Castellanos had in the outfield.

 

 

Why would Girardi leave Nelson in, you ask? Simply, Girardi said that all the Phils high-leverage relievers, Corey Knebel, Seranthony Dominguez, and Jeurys Familia, were all unavailable. The reason they were unavailable? Because Girardi felt the need to use Knebel on Monday night in a four-run, non save situation to close out the game. Familia was also used in that game but he sucks butt cheeks so I’m not even sure he would have been a better option in the ninth last night. As for Dominguez, he last pitched on Sunday and threw a whopping 11 pitches, so I’m not exactly clear on why he wasn’t available.

 

Girardi’s mismanagement of the bullpen goes deeper than just last night. It’s been this way since he got here. Why, oh why, he chose to use his high leverage situation relievers in Monday’s game when they had a healthy lead from start to finish is beyond me. That decision screwing the Phillies over the very next day was the most predictable thing ever. Joe Girardi needs to go.

 

Embiid Snubbed Again

 

It’s one thing to be a runner-up to the most prestigious award in the league. It’s a whole different thing to be snubbed by the voters again and be relegated to second team All-NBA because the “MVP” plays the same position. Unfortunately, that’s the situation Joel Embiid is in once again.

 

Please, for the love of all that is good and holy, someone explain this decision to me. In April, it was announced that the rules would be changed for All-NBA voting, so that Embiid and Nikola Jokic could be listed as a forward/center and both players could make first team All-NBA.

 

Embiid led the league in scoring. He was the first center to lead the league in scoring since Shaquille O’Neal. He’s the first foreign-born player to ever lead the league in scoring. Even still, the voters and their traditional little pea brains saw Embiid, said “Center, not as good as Jokic,” and penciled him on the second team.

 

 

To make matters even worse, the player that seemingly made first team All-NBA over Embiid at the “up for grabs” forward slot was Jayson Tatum. For all intents and purposes, Embiid and Tatum had essentially the same amount of assists, steals, and minutes per game. Embiid had more points, rebounds, blocks, field goals made, free throws attempted, a higher field goal percentage, and a higher three point percentage than Tatum. The only category in which Tatum had a significant advantage over Embiid? Free throw percentage.

 

Tatum even said in his press conference on Wednesday that, “Joel Embiid was second in MVP voting and made second team, doesn’t really make too much sense, right?” Right, Jayson, exactly right.

 

The voting of nearly every major award in the NBA needs a complete overhaul, and All-NBA voting is no different. The criteria doesn’t make sense. The thought process makes even less sense. At a point in time where the league is more “positionless” than it has ever been before, the all-NBA team being so rigidly dependent on positions is illogical. Make it the five best players on the first team, the next five best players on second team, and so on and so forth. It isn’t that complicated.

 

Embiid had one of the best seasons for a big man in the history of the sport. He did it as a traditional post scorer, while mixing in moves that only elite level jump shooters possess. All he has to show for it is a second team All-NBA selection. Absolutely sickening.

 

 

The Flyers Are Being Mocked

 

The Flyers are coming off of one of the most embarrassing seasons in franchise history. After a mere 61 points, worst in the Metropolitan division, and an uninspiring showing from interim coach Mike Yeo, the Flyers are naturally searching for a new head coach.

 

The Flyers are reportedly swinging big at some of the biggest and most recognizable names in the market. One of those names includes John Tortorella, who most recently coached the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2021 before being fired. The former 2004 Stanley Cup champion has a track record of getting teams to the playoffs, but floundering early on in the playoffs.

 

Even still, the Flyers thought highly enough of him to interview him for the job. Tortorella completed the interview, confirmed he went on the interview with ESPN, and said something…interesting on his way out.

 

 

Yikes. Either Torterella wasn’t impressed by the Flyers or the Flyers weren’t impressed by Tortorella. Based on the Flyers current state of no real direction while simultaneously having next to no money to spend, coupled with Tortorella’s snippy comment, I’d guess it was probably the first option.

 

Luckily for the Flyers, Tortorella is one of a supposed “many” options the Flyers have to fill their head coaching vacancy. According to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the Flyers, “have a wide range of candidates and they are looking for a proven track record of success.”

 

Enter Barry Trotz, who is scheduled to interview with the Flyers at some point this week. After he was fired by the Islanders, a move that shocked the hockey world, Trotz has easily become the biggest name on the market. Unsurprisingly, he is supposedly at the top of the Flyers list of coaching candidates.

 

Unfortunately for the Flyers, Trotz is also being covetted by seemingly every other team with an opening at head coach. The Red Wings, Golden Knights, and Trotz’s hometown Winnipeg Jets have all already completed interviews with the coach, according to the Philly Voice.

 

Gun to my head, will Trotz be the next coach of the Philadelphia Flyers? I say no. There are other teams out there with a much better sense of identity and direction than the Flyers at the moment. I’d even venture to say that the Flyers head coaching job is probably one of the least attractive in the sport. It could be awhile before we know who the head man on the bench will be next season.

By Matt Szczypiorski | May 25, 2022
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