Chris Parker/Cleveland Scene answers your questions

DougHeil said:

All the big o'l words in there. Decipher this please.

"His play’s a physical representation of Schopenhauer’s “Will and the Idea,” a conception of reality as but a perception upon which an indomitable will strives to stamp its imprint."

Seriously Chris; great stuff.

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@DougHeil @Chris Parker

He's referring to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and his most important philosophical work The World as Will and Representation in which Schopenhauer augmented the earlier proposition of Immanuel Kant (namely, that objects exist as things-in-themselves) by stating that the human mind imprints upon the framework of things-in-themselves the details of reality.

In other words, human perception and action is as much responsible for the truth of reality as the objects are themselves. Not to add words to Parker's well-constructed metaphor, but I would argue that LeBron's level of play is so proficient that he has moved beyond the mere act of mastering basketball and has moved into the realm of a Schopenhauerian "genius"... that is, somebody who no longer simply views reality based on his own perceptions, but instead can imprint his own will onto the framework of reality itself, thereby viewing and changing the actual Platonic basketball "form" itself.

Or, to put it simply... Ever see the movie "The Matrix"? LeBron has moved from simply being "Neo" to becoming "The One" of the "Basketball Matrix".

Make sense?

Redzone said:

Chris, you need to start asking leading questions like other city reporters do, such as asking Blatt if he was surprised that the Hawks player was not suspended for any additional games such as JR, or asking Holford why is he talking about brotherhood when he pulled down Delly, elbow chopped him and then sat on Delly's arm with all his weight, and then talked about Delly as if Holford's actions were premeditated.

Someone needs to ask the questions that portray the reality and that, sir, starts with you, since I don't beleive anyone else is willing to do it from these neck of the woods.

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Ugh, no?
One of the great things about Chris is that he's the exact opposite of NEOMG.

ibLurkin said:

Ugh, no?
One of the great things about Chris is that he's the exact opposite of NEOMG.

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Uh, no, I'm talking about reporters from Chicago, Boston, Atlanta and the national media, certainly not Cleveland. I believe the Cleveland reporters don't ask tough enough questions on this topic, thus, the reporting is mainly anti-Delly, JR and favorable to those beating on our Cavs players.

What I meant was that you can try to utilize narrative-driven reporting to battle opposing narrative a driven reporting, but that only intensifies the problem. This world needs less idiots, and even less decent people acting like idiots.

I completely buy that. LeBron can warp the defense and overall game because he's a threat in so many ways. He's also seen every imaginable tactic a defense can throw at him on the basketball court.

Now he's furthering his game by adopting the Garnett/Rasheed Wallace level of communication on defense, which is indispensable in the playoffs.

I have a feeling James isn't going to let his championship experiences mean nothing and have no impact on the championship series.

The Warriors have zero championship experience. James is a seasoned legend who has defeated some incredible teams OKC and S.A to both win and lose championships.

Golden State's defense was rated #1, but remember they only guarded LeBron twice during the season in which those statistics were accumulated. That's not enough information to accurately predict. Even if you look at GS's defensive numbers guarding the post, guarding the mid-range..... There's only 2 games against LeBron James in that dataset.

All of those defensive metrics Golden State has racked up; you can't apply the same logic and assume it's going to stop LeBron James at a similar rate too. He's an outlier, hence their defensive prowess, I'm not completely sold on it.

If each team had to play LeBron 20x's (non-simulated) and we could get a "LeBron stopper" rating for defenses, I sincerely doubt Golden State would be in the top 5. They defend well as a group, but against a mega-star like LeBron those #'s might nott mean as much. Especially if he decides to impart his gargantuan will on the game and hit Golden State with all barrels and run wing, post, and play PG.

Cratylus said:

@DougHeil @Chris Parker

He's referring to the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer and his most important philosophical work The World as Will and Representation in which Schopenhauer augmented the earlier proposition of Immanuel Kant (namely, that objects exist as things-in-themselves) by stating that the human mind imprints upon the framework of things-in-themselves the details of reality.

In other words, human perception and action is as much responsible for the truth of reality as the objects are themselves. Not to add words to Parker's well-constructed metaphor, but I would argue that LeBron's level of play is so proficient that he has moved beyond the mere act of mastering basketball and has moved into the realm of a Schopenhauerian "genius"... that is, somebody who no longer simply views reality based on his own perceptions, but instead can imprint his own will onto the framework of reality itself, thereby viewing and changing the actual Platonic basketball "form" itself.

Or, to put it simply... Ever see the movie "The Matrix"? LeBron has moved from simply being "Neo" to becoming "The One" of the "Basketball Matrix".

Make sense?

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You fucking nerd.


(great post, and a great article by Parker)

Frank Reynolds said:

Golden State's defense was rated #1, but remember they only guarded LeBron twice during the season in which those statistics were accumulated. That's not enough information to accurately predict. Even if you look at GS's defensive numbers guarding the post, guarding the mid-range..... There's only 2 games against LeBron James in that dataset.

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Correction.... they only guarded LeBron once. LeBron didn't play in the first meeting at GS. I'm not sure I'd call what they did in the one meeting they had "guarding him" either so you probably can say zero games, lol.

I've seen people talk up Thompson/Iguodala/Barnes as somehow being able to guard LeBron. Not only did LeBron go 42/11/5 with 3 steals and a block in 36 mins on 60% shooting in his only game against GSW this year with all 3 of those guys available but he's lit most of those guys up regularly in his career. Iguodala in particular...

Career head-to-head stats:
vs. Iguodala - 29.1pts, 7.4 rebs, 7.2 asts, 1.8 stl, 1.2 blk, .519 fg%
vs. Barnes - 32.0 pts, 7.8 rebs, 6.8 asts, 1.4 stl, .4 blk, .564 fg%
vs. Thompson - 31.0 pts, 8.3 rebs, 6.8 asts, 1.5 stl, .3 blk, .558 fg%

Hydroponic3385 said:

You fucking nerd.


(great post, and a great article by Parker)

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Yeah, well, that just like your opinion, man. Seriously though, yeah, that was some of Parker's finest work to date. That guy is head and shoulders above the rest of the local so-called "sports journalists"... dare I say he himself has become a Schopenhauerian genius?

Here's the analogy I've made with LeBron to some of my co-workers back when they were saying we wouldn't get past Chicago or Atlanta because their defenses could focus on LeBron with our other options out....

He's like Marshawn Lynch or Adrian Peterson(or pick other great, imposing RBs) are in the NFL. You can have a great run defense, stack the box and maybe even guys are in position to make a play. However, he's physically dominant and skilled enough to make you miss or run you over. So, your defense that has looked great tackling the 30 other RBs in the league can still play just as they have all year and still not stop them. You might know that they're going to run the ball 3 times inside the 5, but those guys are good enough to punch it in.

This is why superstar players are SO important in the NBA. You can play great defense against them and STILL get beat. Meanwhile, when you're stacking the defense to stop them, you're opening up the passing game.

Scar4343 said:

Here's the analogy I've made with LeBron to some of my co-workers back when they were saying we wouldn't get past Chicago or Atlanta because their defenses could focus on LeBron with our other options out....

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I've argued similar but a nuanced version. You see, LeBron can be stopped. He has been stopped, even when 100% (which he hasn't been in these playoffs) but it takes a team with a very precise scheme and the personnel to carry it off.

Some Pistons fans back in the day were pleased with how Chris Webber opened up their offense, but Ben Wallace was the lynchpin of their defense and Larry Brown kept them focused on it. When they lost Ben ... Chris Webber on what was left of his knees just had no prayer of stopping James from getting to the rim and Flip Saunders couldn't come up with anything better than doubling James and letting Gibson beat them.

The Bulls this season weren't in much better shape with a hobbled Noah, and a fossilizing Gasol. Thibs couldn't sustain their D at a high level and they paid for it, and even at their best they still couldn't stop LeBron.

The Pacers D may have presented a challenge, but we know what happened to them.

The Celtics of KG/Pierce/Rondo/Allen are of course history.

The Heat who should have known what to do, couldn't even scrape their way in to the playoffs.

The one coach+team which has showed they know how to stymie James got knocked off in the first round this year (aka the Spurs).

So, the trick is that some coach and some team which has never mastered stopping LeBron is going to have to figure out how to get it done; albeit that assumes James can keep playing at a very high level.

If the injuries and wear & tear of carrying the team catch up with him ... this "calculus" is for naught; but the windows is open for us this year.

@Chris Parker thanks for asking Blatt about his increased use of Timo tonight! Got an answer pretty close to what we expected, but I smiled as soon as I heard you ask it.

Helium filament said:

@Chris Parker thanks for asking Blatt about his increased use of Timo tonight! Got an answer pretty close to what we expected, but I smiled as soon as I heard you ask it.

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And don't call David lonely!!!

I have it on good authority one of his favorite places is Bar Louie. But don't tell him I told you.... Happy Trolling! ;-?

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....

No no no, the worst is when Joe Neckbone asks:
"Talk about your feelings regarding the GSW and Steve Kerr."
Or something of that nature. All "Talk about.." questions are horrible.