Links to the Present: February 14, 2012

“Kyrie Irving participated in non-contact drills [Monday] at practice, inching him closer to a return to the court Wednesday night when the Cavs host the Indiana Pacers. Irving has not been medically cleared from the concussion he suffered last week, but the running, agility and non-contact work are the final steps before he can receive clearance from team and league doctors. Cavs coach Byron Scott typically likes players coming off an injury to at least get one practice in before they play. If Irving can get cleared prior to tomorrow’s practice, it’s likely he would play against the Pacers.” [Jason Lloyd]

“Christian Eyenga’s to-do list is fairly simple. Improve his English, improve his driving, and improve his defense. (Or, in the words of Eyenga, himself: ‘I learn about English. I don’t crush the car no more. Now my next step is to learn about defense.’) English is essential and not crushing the car no more is always a good thing. (The Congolese transplant had some difficulty navigating his rig in the snow last winter.) But if you ask Coach Scott, the third item on Christian’s list is probably the most vital to his NBA success and survival.” [Joe Gabriele]

“The loss of Anderson Varejao is likely to send this team into a free-fall, much like the one it experienced last year.  They will not lose 26 games in a row again as long as Kyrie Irving is getting the minutes that used to belong to Mo Williams and Manny Harris, but it is going to get bad.  This team was on the raggedy edge to begin with, and trying to replace Varejao with the likes of Samardo Samuels and Ryan Hollins is like replacing Peyton Manning with Kerry Collins.” [Michael Curry]

Conrad Kaczmarek over at Fear the Sword is confident Kyrie Irving will play against the Pacers on Wednesday.