Brad Stevens, Isaiah Thomas Score High In New England Sports Survey
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics took the region by surprise last year. Instead of another season that was dominated by lottery odds and tanking talk in the final months of the year, a revamped roster delivered an entertaining second half turnaround. The end result (a playoff berth) put the team ahead of schedule in the eyes of many fans.
That gritty effort has also helped elevate the franchise in the minds of many observers in the New England region, according to a new survey released by Channel Media and Market Research. CBSBoston.com obtained a copy of the questionnaire, which polled over 14,000 New Englanders about the Celtics and other Boston sports franchises.
The C's still rank as the fourth favorite franchise in the region (six percent) behind the Patriots (45 percent), Red Sox (24 percent) and Bruins (23 percent) but the franchise saw improvement across the board when it comes to the team's approval rating. Here's a closer look at some of the more revealing questions within the survey and what they mean for a team that is on the road back to contending once more:
- Perhaps the most telling question asked was if each local pro team was "changing for better" during the past year. The Celtics topped all other local franchises in this category, with a whopping 67 percent agreeing with the statement.
That's a gigantic 29 percent jump for Boston from last year's mark and a clear sign that the majority of the fan base has approved of Danny Ainge's recent dealings, despite a lack of "fireworks." Ainge received an excellent rating from 37 percent of respondents, the second highest mark out of GMs in the region (behind Bill Belichick). Overall, New England fans gave the Celtics a mean grade of B+ for the 2014-15 campaign, a sharp jump from the C- mark handed out in last year's survey.
- The region clearly credited much of the team's improved play to head coach Brad Stevens. In his second year at the helm, Stevens received rave reviews from fans as a staggering 71 percent of respondents gave the former Butler head coach an excellent rating for his job performance.
- On the player side of the survey, last year's new additions made the biggest impressions on members of the team's boosters. Isaiah Thomas (18 percent) and Jae Crowder (15 percent) were listed as the most admired Celtics, with (former Celtic) Brandon Bass, Marcus Smart and Kelly Olynyk also receiving enough votes to land in the top-five for the category.
Thomas also topped the "player who exceeded expectations" category after averaging a team-best 19 points per game upon joining the roster at the trade deadline. The 5-foot-9 point guard earned 25 percent of the vote, a strong first place finish ahead of Crowder (14 percent) and Avery Bradley (12 percent).
- In a fitting tribute to his up-and-down play, Bradley also earned a top-five finish for players "that did not exceed expectations" category, tallying five percent of the vote there as well. Appropriately, the two players that topped the voting for this question are no longer with the team: Rajon Rondo (32 percent) and Jeff Green (16 percent).
As the team readies for next season, fans are putting the franchise's top priority as making Boston a more attractive destination for potential free agents (28 percent of the vote). Now it's up to Ainge and Stevens to sustain the positive vibes from last season and try to take another positive step forward in the Eastern Conference to improve the team's stature around the league once more.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
