Chris Parker/Cleveland Scene answers your questions

[Adam]

Maybe not the best but if you could,possibly ask Blatt about his relationship with his coaching staff. We always ask or are curious about the dynamic between coach and players. What has Blatt learned from his staff and how have they worked together, specifically in these playoffs, to create a game plan and work on adjustments as the flow of the game dictates

Thats a good point. At the start of the year Blatt made it clear that Lue was running the defense but that might of changed in jan.

My gut would be that there is a lot of collaboration between the staff with blatt overseeing it all and delegating various aspects to sub groups

 

[boogie-havoc]

It really is iteresting to know the dynamic between Blatt and Lue as far as who's in-charge of the defense - is it a partnership or one of them is just calling the shots?
From the video of him mic'd last night - it seems like Lue is, as when he finished talking it seems as if he said "Ok Defense", allowing someone else to talk.
I too remember talks about taking over the reigns of the defense midway though after Lue had full control early on.

The thing with Blatt is - and this is something I'd like to share with you, Chris, aswell as everybody else - historically his teams have been quite the opposite defensively - as in - they practically allowed opponents free pass to shoot from the 3pt line, and his opponents also shot them in great percentages - and his main goal was to just clog the lane and allow nothing at the rim, which he was extremely successful at.

In Cleveland, it's almost the exact opposite as opponents have more drives to the and finish there better - but the Cavs simply do not allow them to beat them from the 3pt line whatever may happen.

It'll be an interesting question to ask him in regard to how/if his philosophy defensively changed - or does he still believe in the former, but realized the differences between the Euro game and the NBA game force him to change his way of advocating defense and make the adjustments.

Let me try rephrase this into a question, as asked -

"For those of us who followed you in Europe, defensively you were always stressing no easy shots at the rim - even at the expense of allowing the 3pt shot - and your opponents usually shot a very high volume and also a solid % from the 3pt line - but were struggling inside the paint - and the good results followed.
In the NBA it seems as if that took a 180 as you've made major adjustments, and your defense is first and foremost not allowing teams to beat you from the 3pt line holding opponents to one of the lowest %s in the league, while conceding a bit more in the paint .

Could you expand a bit about:
1) If your personal opinion regarding defensive ideolegy changed? is it just an adjustment you had to make due to the nature of the NBA game, or it has to do more with player personal?
2) Why are there such opposing differences between how to approach and what to allow opponents defensively in the European and the NBA game.

 

[gourimoko]

Shirts off with Parkers Asshole twitter pic taped on his chest.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Hydroponic3385]

Chris, I think you should follow the Joe Vardon recipe for successful questions:

1) Ramble on for about 2 minutes so much so that it is impossible to follow your train of thought
2) Then finally begin your question with "Talk about..."
3) And ask a minimum of 2-3 questions at once

Bonus points if you ask questions we already know the answer to, questions no one cares about, or questions that simply don't make sense.

 

[World B ThAreee]

Not picking favorites, but I like where you're going on this Adam. Especially as last night I asked him about going big against a small team which he has done very little of, as T-Mo's 23-26 mpg attests. However in Chicago Gm4 and this one he gave Mozgov extended run (39 mn, 15p 9rb 3b 8FTA)

Last night in 35 mn he had 14p, 7rb 3blk 1 stl, 5FTA, which says to me that it's possible to get more out of T-Mo (tho' both games he had 5 fouls) if Blatt will give him the run. As my question for Blatt last night indicated, I think this is one avenue of attack on GSW.

you may not recall but tho' T-Mo only played 25 mn of the 110-99 victory but he had a +17 +/- to lead the team.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?id=400579146

I think the pre-game message to Mozgov was for him go 100% speed as long as he was in there. He was running full speed in transition and playing aggressive defense for all of his minutes. I think that is a great recipe for 25+ min/game against GS.

 

[Jon]

I think we'd all like to hear more about the roles of the assistants, and you'd think Blatt would be willing to discuss some details in terms of roles/assignments.We may lose some of them, but usually a head coach is happy to see his assistants get credit and succeed.

I'd like to hear his thoughts on why he thinks starting Tristan ultimately worked when obviously it was going to give us spacing problems to start games and hurt our bench rotation.

I'd love to hear an update on some of our bench players as well. Are Marion/Miller/Haywood/Perkins options for anything more than garbage time? But I can understand if he'd rather side step a question like that for multiple reasons.

And the biggie... a status update on Kevin and Andy. We've made it to the finals!!! Any chance they can make some sort of appearance?

 

[NasstyNate]

so we've got at least a week of practices with Blatt having availability most of it (whether or not I go, which at this point is in God and the NBA front office's hands. Teams stop assigning local press at Finals)

I'm interested in getting some questions for him since we should have some time, and some questions that stay away from the kind every Joe Neckbone asks which off the top off my ass would be : "How do you stop Stephen Curry" "how did you become a TEAM" "when did this change start (for like the umpteenth time)" "Are you surprised JR Smith is so good and not a cancer" "do you feel you're peaking at right time" "Is LeBron a good/great/greatest player"

Please also consider that Blatt will not be revealing strategy so questions that I'd like to ask like -- " do the same principles of stopping the 3 ball apply to the GS as the Hawks, and what are they", "teams have switched the pick and roll on GSW all playoffs, what are the pros/cons", "Do you expect to slow the pace" (obviously yes) "DO you think west coast teams are more vulnerable to physical play like the lakers vs. the pistons back in yr day (*wink*)" but I'm unlikely to get much so these are kind of hail marys you hope something useful comes from

But seriously there are going to be like 4-5 opportunities before Thursday to ask questions so I expect to field several crowdsourced ones. get to it....

GSW might be the best transition offense in the league when combining frequency and efficiency. If Kerr puts Thompson on Irving and we continue to put a huge emphasis on the offensive glass and Irving iso to the hoop, I believe that opens up a huge hole with Curry in the open court. Assuming we want to continue prioritizing 3 point defense, how do you strike a balance? If GSW goes on their trademark runs of 3s because of this, are you willing to follow the Pop coaching tree and abandon offensive rebounding in favor of getting back? If so, do you anticipate lineup shifts to reflect that change in philosophy?

Our defense has been dominant, but its aggressiveness has left us susceptible to cuts. GSW takes advantage of the type of hedging and switching defense that we play in just that manner, especially with Bogut and Barnes. Further, they rely on motion and not PnR, so we will not be able to play the same defense that got us here. How hard is it to get a team to change its mindset from defending the PnR to chasing screens and keeping an eye on their backsides? As a follow up, how hard is it to keep your opinion to yourself that we should be running that offense when emulating it to run against in practice?

Talk about 4th quarters and the balance you strike on 3 point defense with TT switching to the perimeter and getting killed inside as a result, both from getting exploited on the big/small mismatch and guards driving on TT. We have almost lost several games because of this. Do you regret not abandoning this strategy earlier as big leads diminish? Given that this strategy is likely employed to prevent teams from getting back into it via the 3 ball, does the same strategy work when we are down instead of up? Do you fear that ATL provided a blueprint on how to beat our 4th quarter defense in Game 3?

 

[boogie-havoc]

Just to highlight my above point, in each of the last 4 seasons Blatt's team led the Euroleague playoffs in the opponent 3PTM.

On average 9.5 3's made, on 40.6%.

So far in these playoffs the Cavs allow 6.5 3PTM(And the NBA game is longer), on 28.1% shooting.

It'll be quite interesting from a basketball standpoint to hear him talk about that.

 

[Damien O'Connel]

YES. I would love to hear about how Lue/Blatt's relationship has evolved. Seems like they are working really well together.

Would be a good piece for you to write @Chris Parker, IMO. Examining the impact that the highest paid assistant coach in the league has had and how he and Blatt work in tandem.

 

[burekas]

Just to highlight my above point, in each of the last 4 seasons Blatt's team led the Euroleague playoffs in the opponent 3PTM.

On average 9.5 3's made, on 40.6%.

So far in these playoffs the Cavs allow 6.5 3PTM(And the NBA game is longer), on 28.1% shooting.

It'll be quite interesting from a basketball standpoint to hear him talk about that.

I think it depended on the rivals and the stage more than anything else. In the Final Four his Maccabi led in the oppenent 3PTM category allowing only 27.78% and forced the opponents to take more 3pt shots. As someone who followed Blatt over the years I see this Cavs defense very similar to his previous teams. I believe Lue helped a lot in making it happen in the NBA though, especially at the beginning of the season by understanding the limitations of NBA players. This, plus he added stuff of his own. Seems like a very solid team work right there.
To be honest, I don't think that such a question will receive an answer other than compliments to the coaching staff. The Cavs D is a combination of both Lue and Blatt defensive schemes, and probably have even more guys involved for small adjustments.

Well, maybe it's worth a try.

 

[D10S]

Chris - here's my question.

Coach Blatt,

Over the past month or so, this team has transformed from one that would play great offensively or defensively (or, at times - both) in spurts. The prevailing belief at the time was that they could "turn it on" when needed to create point differentials. However, rarely did they play complete games such as we've seen so consistently in the playoffs.

Can you speak to this apparent and significant change in mindset, from one which appears to inherently value individual talent to one that values collective determination and focus for the duration of the contest? This is psychologically significant and precarious for the individual player as their self-worth is more closely related to their ability to stay focused and execute rather than their God-given ability.

 

[ibLurkin]

If we're playing let's not squander our questions, I think we should consider Blatt's answers.
He never throws people under a bus, no matter how small. He'll never call people our not in person. Also, he'll never show his hand.
With that in mind, and the common sense assumption that he will not give out free ammunition to the media, what would we expect/hope to hear back?

I'll indulge a bit and attempt to guess his answers/evasions:

Defensive trunover? No Love, no Kyrie, Shump and Delly in. Add playoff intensity on top of that and the understanding that lacking O we needed D, and yo get your latest incarnation. But he'll never throw KLove and Ky under the bus.

Golden State? Can't dare Curry to shoot 3's, which means switching on PnR or letting them drive. Their centers don't shoot that well, so crowded lane. Probably letting GSW drive with no help. If the go inside? They lose the edge. On offense we'll probably see more of the same - ISO and spacing. He'll never tell you any of this (If true or not).

Ty? Great help, wonderful person, great with the players. Blatt redesigned the defensive scheme around Mozgov with his and James' input and let Lue oversee it since. Tyronn is probably the one with the direct line to the players (Old trick - good stuff comes from assistants, bad from himself), and the one doing his timeout watch and other administrative NBA stuff. I don't think Blatt would let this out, since he knows what backlash that can bring.

Pace? We had one of the slowest paces in the league. GSW are running, but O Boards will slow them down. Will probably stress ball handling as a counter-measure as well.

Mismatches? Blatt has already stated that he's all for getting the most efficient shots. In the mismatch case, he also lets players abuse them even when it isn't the best option to shake opposing confidence.

 

[enigmatic]

Chris asked me to post his new piece today, so enjoy:

http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and...ight-to-the-warriors-after-sweeping-the-hawks

 

[Jon]

We have to play physical. I saw a play last night where Dwight just watched as Steph drove for a layup. It's hard enough to get a clean shot on him because he does a nice job avoiding contact, but you have no chance if you don't try.

When given the opportunity, we should send him to the floor and see if he can be rattled.

A perfect job assignment for Perk if we use him in this series.

 

[Adam]

Fantastic article chris, but man your editor needs to actually edit this. Got cavs and warrior confused at the end