Can Sixers create some buzz? | Sports Daily Newsletter

Are the 76ers destined to finally make a long playoff run this spring? We should find out what kind of team this is soon enough.

Fresh off the All-Star break, the Sixers resume their schedule on Thursday night with a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Joel Embiid was not even voted an All-Star starter this time around and James Harden was left out of the game in Sal Lake City altogether.

But these Sixers have won 13 of their last 16 games and stand at 38-19, third in the Eastern Conference. They’re playing at a 54-win pace, which would be their highest win total of the Embiid era.

The buzz is not there yet, though. How can the Sixers prove themselves? They have the toughest remaining schedule of any team in the NBA, with their opponents combining for a .540 winning percentage, David Murphy writes.

Starting Thursday, they play the Grizzlies, Celtics, Heat (twice), Mavericks, and Bucks. That’s six games in 10 days against winning teams. The Sixers are going to show us who they really are over the next month.

— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

❓ Do the Sixers have enough to beat the Celtics and/or Bucks in the playoffs? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

The 76ers enter the unofficial second half of the season with a long list of storylines to watch, including their health, backup center position and a brutal March schedule. Of course, along the way, they will count on Joel Embiid and James Harden, who will be chasing their own individual goals. Embiid, a two-time runner-up, hopes to compete for the scoring title and MVP, while Harden wants to make a deep postseason run. The Inquirer’s Gina Mizell digs deeper into every subject.

Next: The Sixers return to the court at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Wells Fargo Center to start the unofficial second half of the season.

It has been more than a week since the Eagles lost both the Super Bowl and both of their coordinators to head coaching jobs.

With two major hires to make, we zeroed in on the defense first, where the Eagles are quickly building a comprehensive list of candidates to replace Jonathan Gannon. Josh Tolentino has the skinny on five coaches who have interviewed for or been linked to the vacancy. How much say will Nick Sirianni have in the process? That remains to be seen.

While identifying and hiring two coordinators might be the primary focus for the moment, there are other big decisions for the Birds to make in the near future. With more than a dozen key pending free agents, EJ Smith runs through the list of players the Eagles need to make a decision on, led by defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

It’s no secret that Samuel Ersson has been playing some incredible hockey between the pipes for the Flyers.

But how his performances stack up historically may surprise you. We dug into the numbers behind Ersson’s 6-0-0 start and let’s just say he is already in some elite company.

With Carter Hart back between the pipes, the Flyers carried a lead over the Edmonton Oilers into the third period, and then lost the game.

Next: The Flyers host the Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. Friday (NBCSP).

Fifteen years later, it’s difficult to see Rhys Hoskins in Phillies camp and not think about Pat Burrell, circa 2008. It isn’t only that Hoskins is a right-handed power hitter from northern California, just like Burrell. Or that Hoskins endured losing seasons after coming up through the Phillies’ farm system, just like Burrell. Or that Hoskins is a frequent target of fans’ ire despite putting up one 30-homer season after another, just like Burrell. Hoskins is also notably the only everyday Phillies player eligible for free agency at season’s end. And although the club’s record payroll is nearing $250 million and the Phillies are handing out contract extensions like packets of sunflower seeds (Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvarado got new deals last week, and talks are picking up with Aaron Nola), Hoskins hasn’t heard a peep since he avoided arbitration by agreeing last month to a $12 million salary for 2023. Will his Phillies career end similarly to Burrell’s?

Addressing a full squad in spring training for the first time as a manager, Rob Thomson kept the speech he’d practiced 30 years very simple.

The Union are famous for the young American players they’ve sent abroad (Aaronson brothers, etc), but it’s time, Jonathan Tannenwald writes, for acclaim to come the team’s way for the young star it has kept — Jack McGlynn. There are a number of reasons why this year could be his breakout season.

The Union also moved another young star up their ranks.

Union fanatics will be able to follow the games on local radio under a new deal with 97.5 The Fanatic.

MLS is also making key changes in the playoff format.

Finally, the SheBelieves Cup wraps up with the marquee matchup of U.S.-Brazil.

Next: The U.S. women’s team takes on Brazil on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (TNT, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock).

Who holds the Phillies’ record for stolen base attempts in a season without being caught? (At 23-for-23 it ranks second all-time to Carlos Beltran’s 28 straight in 2004.)

Answer: C) Chase Utley in 2009. Gene T. was first with the correct answer.

We asked you: Which of baseball’s new rules concerns you the most and why? Among your responses:

I’m old, and a bit of a purist, but I can live with things like bigger bases and the pitch clock. Heck, I’m good with automating ball-and-strike calls. Banning the shift is another matter. The positioning of defensive players has evolved since the game’s beginning and adjusting those positions based on the situation, the batter and even the pitcher is part of the game. They do it in beer league softball. If it works, it gives the defense an advantage, but that advantage is small.

Bill James found that hits turned into outs by the shift in 2021 reduced the leaguewide batting average by just four points. The shift affected the outcome of some games and hurt some batters more than others. But unlike requiring relievers to face at least three batters and limiting the times a pitcher can throw over to first, banning the shift doesn’t address baseball’s biggest problem: the pace of play. — Doug B.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, Mike Sielski, Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, EJ Smith, Josh Tolentino, Giana Han, Gustav Elvin, Jonathan Tannenwald, Gina Mizell, Meghann Morhardt, and Javon Edmonds.