Hey, Cavalier fans! It's A.C. checking in. What's happening?

It's been a while since I've written and I hope everyone's having a great summer. I've been spending some time on the local links. It can be aggravating, but I love the game!

It's been a busy summer for the Cavaliers. Danny Ferry has really been busy getting this team ready to compete for a Championship. If the Heat don't match the offer for Jamario Moon, that adds just one more nice piece to the puzzle.

With all these new faces, I'm interested to see how LeBron's game changes - especially around Shaq.

I think in the low-post game, he'll add the little pull-up jump shots and stuff like that, because there's going to be a lot of congestion with Shaq in the lane. And I think he's going to do a lot of passing and cutting because Shaq's a very good passer. Drop it in low and cut.

Our offense has to be set up to take advantage of teams trying to double-team Shaq - again - because he's so good finding the open man.

I think with Parker and Moon, we have guys who can shoot and defend. And these are guys who can run with LeBron. And they have decent size.

I don't think LeBron's game will change too much. He probably will add to his repertoire. Like I said, the little ten-foot shots, the little pull-up shots will be there for him, because the space won't be there to just go flying into the lane and dunk like he's been doing - unless it's in the open floor.

I think he might even play some low-post with Shaq around.

I think LeBron's going to play off Shaq. Because right now, we have enough weakside shooters around - Parker, Mo, Delonte - all these guys can put the ball in the basket playing off of him. And I'm just anxious to see how it's going to work with two guys on the floor at the same time that have to be double-teamed.

Actually, it's going to be very interesting to see how we handle it, in terms of floor spacing. The most important thing for us this year is "floor spacing" - understanding the dynamics of having Shaq and LeBron on the floor at the same time.

Coach Kuester being gone will definitely affect this, and the Cavaliers will have to find the offensive imagination to be able to take advantage of this.

One thing that the offseason moves have guaranteed is that our bench is much stronger than it was.

I think the bench should win us a lot of games this year. It will be just as strong or stronger than any team's bench in the league. And when you take a look at the talent we have that we can move in and out of different positions, we will be greatly improved. Our bench won't collapse like it did at the end of the Playoffs last year.

We have guys who can defend, who can shoot and who have the ability to make plays for themselves if they have to.

Really, last year, the reserves did a great job all the way up to the Eastern Conference Finals. It seemed like at that point, they lost their swagger. But I think with the moves that Danny's made in the offseason, these bench guys will be able to sustain themselves.

With all the new guys we've brought in this summer, some people are forgetting about last year's rookie class. But I think those guys - Darnell Jackson and J.J. Hickson - can make a big leap this year.

I'm hopeful that, this summer, J.J. has worked on his 15-foot jumper - because that was one of his weaknesses. He can pretty much do everything else. He was learning how to defend as the season went on, but unfortunately his back went out on him.

But he needs to learn that 15-foot jumpshot. It's right there - it's wide-open, and he's going to get a bunch of those looks.

And with Darnell, he's a pretty decent face-up jump shooter. He just needs to learn to finish better. He gets to the basket because he has quickness and strength. He just needs to learn how to finish.

If they learn these things, they'll be very productive as sophomores.

It's important to work hard in the summer. Your time in this league is precious and you want to get better every season. I remember my summer routine back in the day. It was tough, but much different than how the young men do it today.

When we weren't winning or in the Playoffs - the offseason was much longer and I'd take a longer time off - maybe a month. And at first, we'd go out to California, the Summer League in Bakersfield. Guys like me, Jim Brewer, Fred Foster. That was pretty much our whole offseason, playing games in the Summer League. On off-days, we'd get up and go run the beaches and then - after we got all our work in - it was fun time!

When we stopped going to Bakersfield after we started going to the Playoffs, we'd start going to upstate New York. We'd rent a house up in Great Neck. It would be myself, Campy, Nate Archibald, and Phil Chenier came up a couple times. We would all work out and then go play in the Rucker League. That was a ball! We'd get huge crowds; it was like playing in an arena, except with people hanging off the fences. Man, it was good stuff!

The current Cavs will need all the work they'll get in this summer. This upcoming season is not going to be easy, because the Eastern Conference is getting tougher. The power is starting to shift towards the East - you can see it.

(In the West, San Antonio reloaded, but they always reload. They just find a way to find the right guy at the right time. I don't how they do it, but they just seem to get the guy you don't think they can get.)

I think the East will be very competitive. I think it'll take around 60 wins to win it, but I don't know if anyone can get 60. The Celtics are going to be tough with Garnett back and Rasheed in the fold. The Pistons are a different team. Chicago will be tough. They'll be one year better and confident after what they did with Boston.

There won't be any pushovers - especially in our Division.

We're going to have to come out ready, come out of the blocks like we did last year.  Come out strong and establish a pace. That's what we did last year by coming out and winning right away. We established a pace that we were able to sustain. You don't want to come out and have to dig yourself out of a hole.

I don't see that as being a big problem. The Cavaliers know what it takes to win and they've proven their regular season mettle last year.

They've added a lot of really nice pieces this summer. And in a couple months, we'll start to see how they all fit together.