Links to the Present: January 9, 2011

“Imagine having a point guard who is averaging 24.7 points, 10.7 assists, 8.0 rebounds and shooting 88 percent from the foul line. That’s what Kyrie Irving and Ramon Sessions are producing. They are playing 49 total minutes, meaning they overlap only about a minute each game. So the numbers are meaningful. One of the reasons the Cavs are 4-3 (along with a soft schedule) is the stunning combined play of their point guards.” [Terry Pluto]

“Many now around the league are crushing on Ricky Rubio and rightly so. He, Knight and Irving will be measured against each other for many years since they were in the same rookie class. The Rookie of the Year battle in the first couple of weeks looks like a battle between Irving and Rubio and if people don’t vote with their hearts at the end I think Kyrie still is going to take this thing home.” [Fear the Sword]

“I thought mentally, especially on the offensive end, we weren’t as focused as we needed to be. I have never seen us that flip with the ball. We were throwing it everywhere like it was a hot potato. That was my message tonight. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win the basketball game.” [Byron Scott via Tom Reed]