Links to the Present: December 27, 2011

“An ‘okay’ debut, if judged solely by Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott, Irving – the first first-round point guard to start for the Cavs in his NBA debut since Terrell Brandon did so 20 years earlier – recorded seven assists and one steal as compared to one turnover. Scoring, however, would not be the first-overall selection’s forte on this evening, converting only two of his 12 shot attempts; a floater off of the glass as an icebreaker early in the contest and a desperation three-point field goal in the waning seconds as his team looked to mend the gap between they and their opponents.” [Scott Sargent]

“Young Mr. Irving probably knew very little about Calderon until this night. The former star in the Spanish pro league who has spent the last six seasons in the NBA torched Irving not only for 14 points, but 11 assists. Irving was destroyed on the pick-and-roll, and the Cavs’ lack of team speed — especially when Antawn Jamison and Omri Casspi were together at forward — meant many of Calderon’s passes led to dunks and layups.” [Terry Pluto]

““I thought we took a little bit of a step back on the defensive end after the last couple weeks (of practice and training camp). We probably had a little lack of trust and communication, but that is something we will continue to work on.” [Byron Scott via Tom Reed]

“Antawn Jamison has been a 20-point scorer six times in his NBA career. However, just like a year ago, he’s gotten off to a slow start. In two preseason games and the one intrasquad scrimmage, he’s averaging 9.3 points and shooting 29 percent from the field (9 of 31). He wasn’t much better in the season opener even though he had 15 points. He made just 6 of 20 from the field. ‘I can still get it done on a night-to-night basis offensively,’ Jamison said. ‘But where they really need me to hold up my end is on defense. Whenever they need me to score, I’ll be there.'” [CBS Sports]