Hey, Cavalier fans! It's AC - what is happening?

Well, it's that time again. This has been a Cavaliers season for the ages, but none of it matters now as we start the Playoffs.

Out of all the teams we could have faced - Detroit, Chicago, Philly - the Pistons are the only team that I had a little bit of hesitancy about, because they know what it's like to deal with what they're dealing with. Mentally, they've got their feet planted on the ground.

The Pistons know - when it comes to the postseason - exactly what they need to do. They know it's a tough mountain to climb, but they know what it takes to climb it. That's the biggest difference between Detroit and the other two teams. Of course, in the Playoffs, some of the new guys that they've brought in - Bynum and Stuckey - they'll see that there's a big difference.

Both teams are perfectly familiar with one another; they know what the other team wants to do.

Offensively, you've got to guard the pick-downs on Hamilton. You need to have a clear understanding of how you're going to deal with that. You can't let McDyess roam around free. And you can't leave Rasheed, either. Because he's going to try to get your bigs away from the basket. Both McDyess and Rasheed are not going to go to the basket on a regular basis. So you don't have to worry about them going by you. You just need to worry about keeping them in front of you.

I think the guard play is going to go a long way in shaping the series. The Pistons are a guard-oriented team - they've always been that way.

Our guards have to do a good job on them defensively. Stuckey, Bynum, Hamilton - those guys are always going to be looking to go to the hoop, always looking to score. So you have to have a solid defensive scheme against them. But if we can turn our defense up and get on the break a little bit - run them - we can get about 15 fast break points a game.

Although I know that's the advanced billing, I don't expect the series to get overly physical. I would imagine if we beat Detroit both games here, that's what it'll turn into up there. But I don't see that happening here. They'll be scuffling to try to beat us here in Cleveland. When they get back to Detroit, they'll feel more comfortable. They might get one of the two in Detroit. And we should come back here and have them where we want them.

I didn't really want to fool with the Pistons, because, again, they will play over their heads when they play us. And beating the Cavaliers would erase a whole season of frustration. There's no shortage of motivation.

Three or four years ago, we were the upstart team. Now, we're on top and they're on bottom. And personally, I'm not sure they know how to deal with it. They don't look at themselves that way, and being there, it has to have an effect on them.

Allen Iverson is a Cavalier Killer, so not having to deal with him helps. But I think Iverson not being with Detroit has almost helped them. They didn't know how to play with a guy like Iverson.

Chauncey Billups is more of a guy who you can understand what he's going to do. He's methodical and he plays the game a certain way. Iverson is helter-skelter. You don't know what he's going to do. You might run a pick-and-roll with Iverson and he's the one setting the pick after he passes you the ball. You don't know what he's going to do, and sometimes he doesn't. Playing in Detroit slowed him down, playing in a structured system - because he's not a structured player.

There are a few players on both sides who'll be getting their first taste of Playoff intensity, and it will have an effect on them. That's why Playoff experience is so important.

That experience is huge because everyone plays at a higher level, a more intense pace. It's much different than the regular season. Every possession counts, because - aside from the rare blowout - it's going to come down to the last five minutes of the ballgame.

Your focus has to be there. And I think that's the biggest thing about Playoff basketball: you have to retain your focus for such a long period of time. But you still have to still be loose enough where you can play. You can't stymie yourself by getting too focused. But that's the way it is in the postseason: the intensity is there from the moment the ball goes up until the last tick on the clock.

I remember my first trip to the postseason. When I first made it, I was so happy to get there, that I wasn't even thinking about the difference between the Playoffs and regular season. And that was the wrong attitude.

In the Miracle Year, we went right on through the postseason. We were such a deep team that I had a chance to sort of work myself through it, and we were still able to be successful. But it was quite an experience. The same guys you were chummy with all year are now right up in your face. And it wakes you up right away.

Something else you have to have an understanding of in the postseason is the referees.

You have to, in a way, "scout" the referees. How are they letting you play? You have to figure that out in the first quarter. Because foul trouble can cause you huge problems in the Playoffs, if you don't watch what you're doing. If the refs are calling it tight, then you have to back off a little bit. You don't want to get two or three fouls and mess your team up because you made some stupid decisions on defense.

I think the Cavaliers should win this series in five games, six at the most. I think they'll give us a run. That's just the competitive nature I see in the Pistons. And granted, you always want a sweep. But I'm trying to be realistic, and I think the Pistons still have some fight left in them. I don't feel that we're threatened to lose the series, but I don't see us sweeping them.

The Cavaliers won't worry about how many games it'll take. They'll go with Coach Brown's philosophy of one game, one day at a time - just like they did all season. That mental approach is what got the Cavaliers through the season and kept them in the moment. They stayed in the moment. It's one of the reasons they never lost more than two straight games.

As long as we don't get ahead of ourselves, we'll be OK. We just have to stay in the moment. And everything will work itself out from there.