Cavaliers Links Roundup: Falling flat against the Knicks, bouncing back against the Bulls, and a Mark Jackson rumor

It's Sunday. You could be sitting around watching football. Alternatively, you could spend the day reading articles about the Cleveland Cavaliers. Or I guess you could be like me and try to do both at the same time.

At Grantland, Kirk Goldsberry looked at why the Cavs fell flat against the Knicks on opening night:

Let's not overreact, but the Cavs should be concerned with a few things. Their newfangled Princeton-style offense looked stagnant at times, their defense was less than dominant (DRtg: 111 per 100), and their bench looked shallow and inept. The offense will undoubtedly coalesce with time, and it's foolish to judge a defense after one game, but that depth issue looks like a problem. Cleveland's bench was outscored by the supposedly laughable Knicks subs, 41-12.

The WFNY crew wrote about their experiences at the game that night.

Adrian Wojnarowski thinks that Mark Jackson may have signed with Rich Paul so that he can become the next coach of the Cavs:

As the season unfolds, the Klutch Sports client most are watching closest is deposed Golden State coach Mark Jackson. He has bounced agent to agent in his brief coaching career, but landing with Paul raised the suspicions of Jackson's motives: Does Jackson think Paul can simply wedge him into the Cavaliers' job?

Brian Windhorst said that beating the Bulls was exactly what the Cavs needed:

It was not a perfect game, but for the Cavs to respond to Blatt and then have an impromptu little celebration for him was indeed in that need category. He's going to have plenty of pressure moments this season when his choices are put under a microscope, and he sure didn't need it after the second game. "Our team has a target on its chest," Blatt said. "We have to bring it every night because of that."

Jason Lloyd discussed how the apron will impact the Cavs in the near future:

The "apron" is a new component to the collective bargaining agreement that teams are still exploring and understanding, but it's a word that will be tossed around quite a bit in relation to the Cavs for the next few years. No one knows yet what the salary cap and luxury tax levels will be next season, but the apron is set $4 million above the luxury tax line and any teams that cross it have future moves hindered. The apron this season is right around $81 million.

Ryan Jones wrote a lengthy piece about LeBron for Slam:

Comfort level matters for LeBron, more than it has for most who've existed in similarly rarified air. He's always happiest when he's got his people around him; it's a fact that helps explain why he has the relationships he has with guys like Dwyane, Chris and Carmelo, and why, as an almost-30-year-old, world-famous multimillionaire, he remains so close with the guys he's been running with since middle school. It might also explain why Miami was always destined to be temporary.

At I Go Hard Now, MikeyFiveBucks wants more basketball, not less:

Let me plainly state this: People who advocate the shortening of the NBA season or the time of games are not basketball fans. Do not engage them as basketball fans. They are traitors. Wolves in sheeps' clothes. They are the enemy. What you do to the enemy is destroy them at any cost.

And finally, Ben Cox, Murray Alexander, Demetri Inembolidis, and yours truly answered some questions about the Cavs over at Red Right 88.

As always, please feel free to send me articles that could potentially be included in future links posts.