This story is part of ESPN The Magazines Oct. 31 NBA Preview Issue. Subscribe today!Boston CelticsOverall: 28 Title track: 21 Ownership: 23 Coaching: 9 Players: 11 Fan relations: 21 Affordability: 62 Stadium experience:?47 Bang for the buck: 84 Change from last year: +29Under the guidance of coach Brad Stevens, the Celtics continue to trend upward, both on the court and in the Ultimate Standings. On the strength of their roster and fan relations showings, Boston leaped 29 spots in this years poll.Whats goodIn just three seasons on the Boston bench, Stevens has emerged as one of the brightest coaching minds in the NBA -- and even if he downplays his impact on the Celtics increasing win total, the fans dont. Stevens helped Boston vault to No. 9 in coaching this year (up eight spots from a year ago), slotting him in a top 10 helmed by his good buddies, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich -- the only NBA coach ranked higher than Stevens -- and Patriots coach Bill Belichick, both of whom have raved about Stevens. The addition of Al Horford and the All-Star emergence of Isaiah Thomas helped Boston jump 23 spots in players. The roster now ranks just outside the top 10, at No. 11 (third in the NBA).Whats badBeing a Celtics fan isnt cheap, especially for those making the commute from the suburbs. Only seven NBA teams charge more than the Celtics average $67 ticket, not to mention parking underneath the Garden (that will run you $45) and concessions ($8.50 beers add up in a hurry). Bostons rising win total improved its bang for the buck over 2015, but fans still need to lean on public transportation and hunt for low-priced balcony seats to maximize their dollars.Whats newBostons biggest overall leap (30 spots) came in fan relations, thanks in large part to how the team has embraced social media. The Celtics routinely engage their fans and take them behind the scenes on Twitter and Instagram, thanks to behind-the-scenes videos and Twitter Q&As. Off the court, Boston and its Shamrock Foundation run promotions and auctions that might help you sneak into Media Day or let Kelly Olynyk accompany your child to his or her first day of school. Meanwhile, only three NBA teams scored better in making it enjoyable to watch games when I dont attend in person, perhaps thanks to CSN announcers Mike Gorman and Tom Heinsohn, who form one of the longest-serving duos in the business.Next: Atlanta Hawks?| Full rankings Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Cheap NFL Jerseys Stitched . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. http://www.cheapjerseysfastshipping.com/ . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. In a country long focused on bringing home as many Olympic gold medals as possible, this years haul isnt what China expected.When Chinas 416-athlete delegation set off for Rio, state sports officials were banking on 30 to 36 gold medals. As the games end, it had won just 24 for the worst showing since Atlanta in 1996.Lagging in third place, Chinas total is a far cry from the countrys 51-gold performance in Beijing that topped the gold medal chart.But so what?The once-feverish obsession with the gold tally has slowly subsided among the Chinese public, which has shown more interest this year in lavishing adoration on athletes with personalities, such as bronze medalist Fu Yuanhui, rather than counting medals.Finally, the public desire for golds has returned to normal, said Lu Yuanzhen, a professor of sports at South China Normal University who has long argued that a mature nation should have a more relaxed attitude toward wins and losses in athletic competitions.The ordinary Chinese people have become more indifferent to the medal counts now they understand Olympic golds bear little impact on their real lives, Lu told The Associated Press.For decades, the Communist state has rallied national unity and pride on the countrys athletic performances on the world stage, especially in the Olympics. The entire country was moved to tears when Xu Haifeng, a pistol shooter, won the first gold Olympic medal for Communist China in Los Angeles in 1984. It was considered a sign that China finally was able to claim a place among world powers, a huge boost to national pride.The fever only grew as Beijing sought better Olympic performances and the ultimate goal of hosting the games. The Olympics was a national obsession, and gold medalists were household names and rewarded generously.Chinas gold medal tally climbed to 28 in Sydney, 32 in Athens and 51 in Beijing. In London, Chinese athletes still took away 38 gold medals and were second only to U.S. Olympians.But following the climax in Beijing, public obsession with Olympic golds began to fade, and voices of criticism grew louder against the state-run sports system credited with the countrys stellar Olympic performances.Critics argue the brutal system has sacrificed vast numbers of rank-and-file athletes, encouraged dishonesty -- such as doping, age alteration and game rigging -- in the name of national honor, and distanced sports from the public.When this years games began in Rio, state media lamented the lack of golds on the opening day, but Chinese sports fans stayed nonchalant. They were more interested in chasing athletes oozing with personality.The most telling example is Fu Yuanhui, a female swimmer who overnight became a social media sweetheart for claiming she had used primeeval force in a semifinal.dddddddddddd She eventually won a bronze. Shaped by the social media instead of the state parlance, Fus vernacular resonated with ordinary Chinese people, who were already bored with empty talks.Ning Zetao, another swimmer, came home empty-handed from Rio but still grabbed headlines because of his undiminished popularity back in China. And Chinese social media was full of encouraging words when swimmer Sun Yang failed to qualify for the 1,500-meter free style final, a sharp contrast to the days when the Chinese public hurled hurtful words at athletes failing to cinch the gold.The swimmers got a welcome from thousands of fans at a Beijing airport. Fu was scared. Nings appearance caused congestion, and besieged by fans seeking photographs and autographs, he could barely move.At recently as 2008, the public booed hurdler Liu Xiang when he could not get off the starting line in Beijing because of injuries.The public has gone to another extreme -- tolerance of non-champions and even adoration of them, wrote Li Ruyi, a veteran Chinese sports writer in a commentary on the news site ifeng.com.Under the most pressure are Chinese gymnasts, who came home with two bronzes this year, the worst performance ever in 32 years.It is also the first time that Team China, a longtime powerhouse in gymnastics, did not win a single gold since China returned to the Olympics in 1984. For the past several years, Chinas gymnastics officials have worried that the state system is running out of steam because the national team has a dwindling pool from which to recruit top talent, a consequence of isolating young talent in the state system.Even if there is more acceptance that every year wont bring a haul of gold, there is still a sense of alarm, and many dont like that China sits behind the United States and Great Britain in the race for golds.There are also whispers that Japan, the upcoming host of the 2020 Summer Olympics Games, could pose a threat to China. That prospect is likely to rekindle the countrys nationalistic sentiments, because of long-time animosity toward the neighboring country that invaded China and shamed the Middle Kingdom in the early 20th century.If the Chinese delegations achievements should indeed decline at this years Rio Olympic games, it begs some serious thoughts on the part of Chinas sports circle, wrote Liu Ge, a state media commentator in the party-run Global Times. The public can accept some mistakes and some failures, but the tolerance over the loss of one gold does not mean that Chinas sports circle should not care about the overall haul of golds and medals. Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '