Michael K-B joins The Farzy Show with Marc Farzetta | Monday, July 19th, 2021
Farzy is back, bringing you all you need to know about Philly Sports! He gets you caught up on the Flyers, Ben Simmons, and the Phillies. “Baseball has a way of pushing you away and bringing you right back,” Marc teases.
After winning series against both the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, the Phillies won three out of four against the Miami Marlins, including both games yesterday 4-2 and 7-4! This weekend’s performances have put the Phillies second in the NL East with an overall record of 47-45. However, no matter what pundits say about the Phillies fairly easy remaining schedule, Farzy warns that in division games, “anything can happen.” Farzetta is “hoping that they can solidify themselves as a legit contender,” before adding, “It is an expectation to win the NL East.”
Zach Wheeler did not have the type of outing that Farzy would have hoped for considering his recent achievements. Marc goes into a deep discussion about the drastic changes in how players are handled in all sports, but especially in baseball. The mentality is that if a pitcher is having a great year, then let him rest because of the injury factor, whereas in any other sport, they would have kept playing him. Farzy is not a fan of this strategy.
In Flyers news, Nolan Patrick and Philippe Myers have been traded for top tier defensemen Ryan Ellis. Farzy sees the downside as Patrick Sharpe vibes, but bottom line is “they got exactly what they needed.”
Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns was a wild one. Farzy recounts the play that defined the game, when Devon Booker had the opportunity to pull up for a shot, but instead decided to drive into three Bucks defenders with the Suns trailing 120-119. The Bucks will look to put the series to bed in Milwaukee tomorrow night as they seek their first championship since 24-year-old Kareem Abdul Jabbar guided them to the 1971 title.
On the Rothman Orthopaedic’s Guest Line, Marc welcomes in CBS sports.com NBA writer Michael Kaskey-Blomain, who talks about Ben Simmons and his future in Philadelphia. “Ben Simmons is an All-Star player, but is not ready to be a second option on a championship caliber team which is the role he has been pegged into here in Philadelphia.” K-B compares it that of Andre Iguodala a decade ago, who found success on other franchises like his tenure as a role player with the Golden State Warriors. The only thing keeping Farzy from trading Ben Simmons is “what Ben Simmons could be?”
To the contrary of most journalists’ opinions, Michael believes that Simmons is a hard worker but is skeptical about the lack of development of Ben Simmons. K-B still expects to see Ben Simmons back in a Sixers uniform next season as the offers have not been tantalizing enough, with the Damian Lillard situation still murky.
Farzy and K-B talk about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s resiliency and how much mindset and mentality can play a role in an athlete’s capability. “It all comes down to confidence,” Michael says before adding “although Giannis’s ceiling may be a bit higher than Ben’s, it is a great blueprint for Simmons as they have similar skillsets.”
Michael also touches on the disparity in value that fans in Philly have for Ben compared to the rest of the league saying that “Morey will not trade pennies on the dollar for Simmons.” Farzy asks us how long will it take for Ben Simmons to kick it into high gear. “Four years, five years, six years?” Marc hopelessly asks this, as he is still struggling to get over the Sixers’painful loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
