Watching the Heat dominate the Celtics so much in these Eastern Conference Finals has Sixers fans feeling a lot of conflicting emotions. On one hand, it is always good to see the Celtics lose. But then there is the question of how did this Celtics team embarrass the Sixers the way they did. How do they go from beating the Sixers down, to getting beat down. And it has Sixers ans going through so many what ifs. What if the Sixers won game 6, would they have stood a better chance vs the Heat? Would they have gotten beat down as badly as the Celtics? It also doesn’t help that we are watching Jimmy Butler get back to the Finals.
Jimmy Butler was here. But he left because he did not like the makeup of the Sixers team. He went to the Heat, and immediately proved himself right. He got the heat to two NBA Finals now in that time. Including the very next season in the Bubble. Meanwhile the Sixers still cant get out of the 2nd round. So what if Jimmy Butler stayed here? Would they be the team with all of that success? Or would their loser energy rub off on Jimmy and drag him down with us? These are the types of things we tneed to think of when out team has lost for the 5th time in the 2nd round.
Which had me thinking. What are the other big What ifs in Philly Sports history. The types of questions that trouble us even now. Because other than waiting for the Eagles to start, we dont have a lot to look forward to right now. So instead of toiling in the present, lets look back at some big questions still hanging over us in our past.
Here are 11 What if Questions still on many of our minds all these years later:
What if The National League Always Had A DH
Imagine this, instead of Jim Thome blocking Ryan Howard, both can play at the same time. Ryan Howard comes up much younger, maybe gets to 400 or even 500 HRs, and you have Thome on those Phillies teams in 2006 and 2007. Do the Phillies win sooner with that type of power in their lineup? Does Ryan Howard’s career last longer on the backend? We see the benefit of it now, with Bryce Harper being allowed to play all of last season, and now this season despite being unable to play the field. But what would have happened with Howard and Thome if they did that?
Its not something that will keep Philly fans up at night like the first two. But it is a fun thing to think about. The Phillies having a lineup of Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jim Thome, Pat Burrell, Jayson Werth, and Carlos Ruiz. That certainly would have been fun. It worked out anyway with them getting a world Series.
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
What if Eric Lindros Stayed Healthy
The Flyers should have gotten so much more out of the Lindros era. He was genuinely one of the most dynamic players in the league. Often among the favorites to win the Hart trophy. He even won it once. Had the Flyers competitive in the playoffs a few times. They made the Stanley Cup once, but got swept out of it. That was the only real taste they got though. Before you knew it, his physical style of play was taking its toll, and he was missing long stretches of time with injuries, and those same injuries had him less effective when he was on the ice.
If he stayed healthy, would they have eventually broken through? Maybe. Its just a shame the Flyers had a generational type talent in the town, but could not ever make real use of it. It gave us some great hockey to watch, but it never led to any Cups. And you wonder if he stayed healthy, if that would be different.
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
What if Matt Geiger Didnt Kill That Allen Iverson Trade
As you probably know, AI was almost traded back in 2000. A trade was agreed to that would have sent him to the Pistons. But one hero stopped it. Matt Geiger, who refused to waive his no trade clause. His reasoning is that he just didn’t want to play there. Fair enough. And thankfully so, because the next year, Allen Iverson had the season of his life. He carried the Sixers all the way to the Finals, where they eventually lost to the Lakers. But that Finals run made so many young Philly fans fall in love with the Sixers. Myself included.
Where would we even be if that happened. There would have been no interesting basketball in Philly for a long time. Like with Lindros, the Sixers never capitalized on having a generational talent in Iverson. But also like Lindros, just AI being here gave us a reason to watch. This is yet another What If where we can look back on and be happy. Because things could have gotten pretty dark if that trade went through. Thank you Matt Geiger.
Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule/Allsport.
