Plenty of Milestones in Sight for the 2018-19 Boston Celtics

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Celtics have a very similar roster to last year, but fans hope that the playoff roster rotation is vastly different from the one that fell to the Cleveland LeBroniers in the 2018 postseason.

Before looking ahead to 2018-19, let us rewind to the previous season with some team milestones. The 2017-18 Celtics allowed fewer than 10 offensive rebounds per game for the first time in franchise history.

In addition, the Celtics were the best in the league in defense. Boston allowed the second-lowest opponent effective field goal percentage in the NBA last season, and the team was strong in preventing corner 3-point attempts. Celtics’ opponents attempted just 18 percent of their 3-pointers from the corner, the best mark in the NBA last year.

Is Cleveland Finally Getting Its Due? The Numbers Say Not Yet

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Cleveland went 52 years without a major sports championship, but is now on the cusp of, perhaps, winning two titles in the same year. With the Indians capturing the ALCS last night, they will open the World Series the same night the Cavaliers will raise their championship banner, next Tuesday.

Cleveland's past futility was on full display in the ESPN 30 for 30 "Believeland," which debuted just before the Cavs won the 2016 NBA Finals. The film not only listed the town's numerous on-field heartbreaks (of which there are many), but also the off-field issues that have shaped the psyche of Cleveland fandom. The Browns skipping town and "The Decision" were chief among them, obviously.

But now that Cleveland may be ready to win two titles in one year, a feat that only rival Pittsburgh has achieved in the last decade, is the math finally catching up? Well, sort of, but as you'll see, Cleveland will need far more success just to reach the average performance of a major sports market over the past 50+ years.

Listed below are the 19 other American markets with three or more professional sports teams, and all of their titles since 1964 (the last Cleveland championship before this year). We've then broken it down and listed an "average titles per team" figure for each market over that time span, and averaged out what a given market could have expected to win since 1964.

All this to give you an idea of how far below the mean Cleveland was/is.

LeBron & the Cavs Make History in Game 7

It was a bad night to be a LeBron hater, as the King orchestrated the first ever comeback from down 3-1 in NBA Finals history, and averaged 29-11-9 throughout the series, with back-to-back 40 point games facing elimination in Games 5 & 6, and a triple-double in Game 7. That's a mouth full, and it earned LeBron his third ever championship, and third Finals MVP, where he was a unanimous selection.

By Andy Dougherty (@AndyDougherty10)

Finally a close game! It had been over a month since the last NBA game decided by five points or fewer, but what better time for a nail-biter than Game 7 of the NBA Finals?

After 52 long years, Cleveland has won a major professional sports championship, as the Cavs edged Golden State 93-89 in front of a raucous crowd inside Oakland's Oracle Arena.

Cleveland's residents can now forget about LeBron James's infamous decision to take his talents to South Beach and focus instead on his triumphant return. James delivered on his promise to bring a championship to his home state, and he more than earned his 3rd career NBA Finals MVP. James took over, becoming the first player in any series to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

Can Memphis Contend in the Loaded West?

From left to right: Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Mike Conley hope to play together more next season.

By Bennett Corcoran (@CorcoranNBA)

After achieving significant playoff success under former coach Lionel Hollins, the Memphis Grizzlies took a step back in 2014 under new coach David Joerger. While many expected them to duplicate their previous performance as a middle of the pack, fringe-contender, the Grizz were instead fighting for a playoff spot in the last week of the season.

Memphis started just 10-15 to begin the season, as the team struggled to adjust to a slightly different defensive system under Joerger. Much of this stretch can be attributed to the loss of Marc Gasol, who sprained the MCL in his left knee just 13 games into the season. Without their former Defensive Player of the Year anchoring the middle, the Grizzlies were exposed, left to learn a new system without a defining piece of the puzzle. Kosta Koufos is a serviceable big man, but the Grizz lean heavily on their front line, making the loss of Gasol difficult to overcome.

After Gasol finally returned in mid-January, point guard Mike Conley tweaked his ankle just a few weeks later. The injury forced Conley to sit the first seven games in February.

Because of this untimely string of injuries, the foundational players did not share nearly as much time together on the floor last season. The trio of Conley-Gasol-Randolph logged just under 1,200 minutes together last season, about 550 minutes less than in 2013.

Good-Bye NBA; I'll Miss You

If this is the last image we see of Tim Duncan on an NBA court, it will be a fitting one.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

At the end of the 2013 season, I said that the Spurs deserved better.

2014 was what they deserved.

After losing the Finals in the most heartbreaking way possible, losing a series only because the rules say one team has to win and one team has to lose, the Spurs rebounded and claimed their spot atop the NBA world.

The 2014 Finals didn’t elicit the same giggling schoolgirl response that the 2013 Finals did. But the 2014 Finals weren’t about beauty, they were about revenge. It was a brutal assault on the establishment. The Spurs, with all their class and professionalism, would never admit to being motivated by something as dark as revenge. But make no mistake, the Spurs wanted to go through *this* Heat team on their way to the title. That they won so convincingly makes it so much sweeter.

The (Probably Way Too Long) 2014 NBA Finals Preview

We're back. I'm not sure we ever left.

By Jeremy Conlin (@jeremy_conlin)

12 months and 100+ games later, we're right back to where we started - Miami and San Antonio for all the marbles.

There are two prevailing opinions about a Finals rematch. Some people think "wait, I don't want to watch these two teams play each other again - last year's series was so amazing, there's no possible way to top that. Let's get some new blood in here." Others think "Last year's series was amazing, but it was so incredibly close that I'm still not even sure the better team won. I need seven more games of that to make sure."

Personally, I'm more in the second group. Yes, I realize that there's probably not much chance that this series can top last year's seven-game instant classic. But even after watching all seven games twice last June (once live, once again the next morning) and then a third time over the last week, I'm STILL not sure which team was better.

For the most part, this year's series is going to be a carbon-copy of last year's series, with a few small changes. Last year's series was as close as a series can be, with Miami barely prevailing. This year, San Antonio has upgraded Gary Neal and Cory Joseph to Marco Belinelli and Patty Mills (although Neal was huge in the Finals last year - he was 14-for-30 from three, with many of them coming in huge moments). Miami has lost Mike Miller and replaced his minutes with Rashard Lewis (but I'm not sure if you can call that a downgrade with Lewis making nine of his last 16 attempts from three, and Miami being +58 in his last 100 minutes on the floor). Manu Ginobili is playing well, but so is Dwyane Wade. There are a few subtle changes, but they wash each other out. The only truly relevant points are home-court advantage shifting to San Antonio (more on that later), and Tony Parker's semi-questionable ankle.

Editor's Choice: Jeremy's 13 Favorite Stories of 2013

I like basketball.

By Jeremy Conlin  (@jeremy_conlin)

Yesterday we brought you editor Joe Parello's Top 13 Stories of 2013, and today it's my turn.

I will do my best not to repeat any off of Joe's list and, unlike him, I have posted my stories in chronological order. So, click through below and enjoy reliving a memorable year for SuiteSports and sports in general.

Studs and Duds: A Wimbledon Cat Fight

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs

Chris "Birdman" Andersen and Shane Battier

Obviously, LeBron James was the biggest key to Miami's Game 7 victory over San Antonio, but these two guys were huge as well. In fact, the Heat outscored the Spurs by 12 with Battier on the floor and by 11 when The Birdman checked in. That's even better than the impressive +8 the Heat were with LeBron in the game.

Taking You To School Podcast: NBA Finals & NBA Draft

Is Victor Oladipo a future star?

By SuiteSports Staff 

This week on "Taking You To School," Joe and Jeremy recap the crazy NBA Finals. Was this the best Finals series ever? And how weird was it that every game seemed to have a new player stepping up? Also, what's next for the Heat and the Spurs - will they be back next year?

Also this week, a preview of the NBA draft. Joe and Jeremy discuss Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, Otto Porter, Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke, Anthony Bennett, and Alex Len. Who is the safest pick? And who has the most upside? All that and more on this week's episode.

Listen to internet radio with Real Fans Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

A Tale of Two Cities: Championship Nights in Miami and Boston

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

I normally try to write in a way the average sports fan can relate to, but I'm pretty much gonna throw that out the window here: I just spent the last two nights at a Stanley Cup game in Boston and at Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Miami.

Before you dismiss this as a blog from a pompous jerk bragging about an awesome experience, give me the benefit of the doubt, and at least get these three points out of this.

1. Boston is a great sports town (Something you already knew).
2 South Florida is a weird freakin' place (Something you may have known).
3. My dad is awesomely crazy (Something you surely know if you've ever met the man).

Let's start with that last one, as I explain my recent championship night experience.

I called my dad on Father's Day, and the first thing he said to me was "Joe, it's Father's Day, but I've got a present for you."

Good-bye, NBA; I'll Miss You

LeBron James (left) and Dwyane Wade left their mark on the 2013 NBA season (flickr)

By Jeremy Conlin

The only reason the Spurs lost the 2013 Finals is because the rules dictate that only one team can be crowned champions.

That’s really all it came down to. These two teams play seven games. Miami won four, San Antonio won three. For the series, the total net scoring margin was five points. In favor of the Spurs.

This was the most evenly-matched series I’ve ever seen. Ever. Full stop. The Spurs did everything necessary to win the title, they were just on the wrong end of some of the flukiest plays in recent memory. There isn’t a reasonable person on the planet that can say that the seven games of the 2013 NBA Finals proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that one team was better than the other.

NBA Finals Game 6: What The Hell Just Happened?

Ray Allen cemented his legacy as one of the great big-time shooters in history.

By Jeremy Conlin

At 12:19 a.m. Wednesday, Dylan Murphy of ESPN's TrueHoop Network (Hardwood Paroxysm, HoopChalk), SB Nation (Poasting and Toasting), The Classical, and Knicks Now posted the following to Twitter: 

No article tomorrow - no matter how great the writer - will be able to capture what just happened.
— Dylan Murphy (@DylanTMurphy) June 19, 2013

Dylan is somewhat of a friend of mine, insomuch as that we are each aware of the other's existence and we've have interacted on the internet and met in person once. I very much respect his opinion.

That being said, I'm going to try. I'm going to fail - miserably - but I'm going to try. What follows is my poor attempt at describing what it was like to experience Tuesday night's Game 6. And I say "experience," not "watch," because "watch" doesn't even remotely do it justice. It was a complete surrender of agency. Anyway, here goes:

Points In The Paint: Game 5 Recap

Danny Green is a mean lean three-shooting machine.

Here are five (mostly) unrelated observations from Game 5.

1. Danny Green Is Not Human and I Don’t Care What Your Evidence Says

Seriously, he’s shooting 25-for-38 from three in the series, which is just under 66 percent. It’s the most ridiculous display of unsustainable shooting I’ve ever seen.

Taking You to School Podcast: Game 5 and the Heat vs History

Join Suite Sports' Joe Parello and Jeremy Conlin for their weekly podcast with Roundball Daily's Kels Dayton. This week, the three discuss game five of the NBA Finals, and tackle the debates of Jordan vs LeBron and Kobe vs D-Wade.

Also, what to make of Doc Rivers, KG and Paul Pierce all possibly joining the Clippers.

Listen to internet radio with Real Fans Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Studs and Duds: Dump the Schwab?

Sports trivia guru Howie Schwab was the most high-profile victim of ESPN's recent layoffs.

By Jeremy Conlin and Joe Parello

Studs and Duds is a weekly feature on Suite Sports. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week?

Studs

Jozy Altidore

Altidore is America's highest-scoring player in European football (Just ahead of Team USA teammate Clint Dempsey), but scoring for the national team hasn't come easily of late. 19-months without a goal had American soccer fans riled up that the national side's most talented player may not be bringing it on the world's biggest stage.

NBA Finals: Notes from Game 2

Chris Bosh had a strong Game 2 and is a key to the series for Miami.

By Bennett Corcoran

•    While his numbers in the first half may seem oddly pedestrian as LeBron James scored just four points on 2-7 shooting, it’s not as if he played poorly during that stretch. While he didn’t shoot the ball particularly well thanks to the lockdown defense of Kawhi Leonard, James drew double teams seemingly every time he touched the ball or the Heat ran a screen for him, opening up other players for wide open looks. While I was expecting LeBron to have one of “those games” in which he effortlessly drops 35+ points and takes over the third quarter like he has done on so many other occasions, he still orchestrated a huge run with Mario Chalmers to blow Game 2 out of proportion, even if the gaudy point totals weren’t there last night. Acting almost as a decoy, LeBron caused the Spurs to abandon shooters in the corners and leave unguarded Miami players under the hoop.

Young NBA Players are "Stupid," and Other Insights from Dennis Rodman

By Joe Parello  @HerewegoJoe

Dennis Rodman is one of the most underrated players in NBA history, and man, is the guy a character.

I mean, seriously, he made the interview I did with controversial slugger Jose Canseco last year look tame. Neither ended well, as Canseco gave me the stink-eye for asking about Roger Clemens and steroids, and "The Worm" hung up on Bob Lobel and I after Bob asked him to discuss his role in the famous Larry Bird interception of Isiah Thomas during the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals.

By the way, I was less than six-months old when that happened, so hearing these guys argue about it was pretty amusing.

"He's one of the most underrated players, but one of the most overrated interviews," Lobel said after Rodman hung up.

Catching Up with Bob Lobel: Special Guest Dennis Rodman

This week's episode of "Catching Up with Bob Lobel" featured an interview with one of the most polarizing figures in American sports history, Dennis Rodman.

In the interview, Rodman talks about the San Antonio Spurs "having the nerve to trade my ass," and argues with Lobel about Larry Bird's famed interception of Isiah Thomas. He also says he would take Jordan over LeBron and Scottie Pippen over Dwyane Wade… But reminds us that it doesn't matter because they're all black.

Oh yeah, and he touches on how bad Larry Bird would be if he played today.

This one gets crazy, so I think you need to listen in below for all the other ridiculous things he said.

 

Listen to internet radio with Real Fans Sports Radio on BlogTalkRadio

The (Probably Way Too Long) Suite Sports 2013 NBA Finals Preview

The 2013 NBA Finals could come down to coaching.

By Jeremy Conlin

Is it just me or did we take the circuitous route and end up at the same point we all thought we would end up at from the beginning of the season?

The Heat are taking on [insert strong Western Conference Champion here] for the NBA Championship. Yawn. Right?

We might have squabbled about which team would represent the Western Conference – I picked the Lakers and was very happy to be wrong. My second pick would have been San Antonio, and the popular pick seemed to be Oklahoma City. But we all knew we were basically going to end up with an iconic Heat-Somebody matchup. Either the storied, star-studded Lakers, the up-and-coming star-studded Thunder, or the Old Guard of the Spurs.

Suite Sports Exclusive: Lobel to Interview Dennis Rodman

To say Bob Lobel has interviewed some big names would be an understatement.

After all, the man hosted one of the most memorable sports hours of all-time when Larry Bird, Ted Williams and Bobby Orr all joined him for an episode of WBZ's Sports Final in 1992.

Now, Lobel and Suite Sport's Joe Parello will get the chance to speak with one of the most unique personalities in American sports history, Dennis Rodman.

Whether you know him as the greatest rebounder and enforcer in NBA history, the man who wore a wedding dress to promote his best-selling autobiography, the retired player who traveled to North Korea for "basketball diplomacy," or the celebrity that appeared on multiple reality shows and wrestled with Hulk Hogan, you can't deny that Rodman has captivated America for the better part two decades.

A five-time NBA champion with the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, Rodman will lend his insights to the upcoming NBA Finals, and whatever else "The Worm" feels like talking about. All this, and more Bruins talk, on this week's edition of "Catching Up with Bob Lobel," Thursday at noon.

Grab your popcorn folks.