Hey, Cavs fans! It's AC here - what's happening?

Those were a pair of nice wins over the weekend. The Cavaliers are keeping it rolling, but they have another tough week - four games in five nights - ahead of them.

Right now, our will is so much stronger than other teams; it's worth at least 10 points right there. We know what we're doing, we have confidence in what we're doing, and we believe what we're doing. That's the whole thing. What you have with other teams - they're not quite sure what they're doing and they don't have confidence because they haven't won anything with it.

And that's the major difference. Other teams have just as much talent as we have. But the difference is we're utilizing our talent at a much higher level than they're utilizing theirs.

Look at the two games in the back-to-back - the Pacers and Charlotte. In previous years, when we played against Charlotte, you almost had this feeling that they had the edge on us. Now, we play Charlotte, you're waiting for them to get the game over with. Even if they have a good quarter, you know this isn't going to last forever. The mindset is so much different now.

Look what the Cavs did to Indiana. The first time they came in here, Danny Granger went off. On Friday night, LeBron didn't give Granger room to breathe. He shut him down in the first quarter and it changed the whole complexion of the game.

And now we have other guys contributing. The bench is strong now - Wally, Boobie, Anderson, all coming in with positive minutes. Then you have Sasha, J.J. and even Darnell Jackson in the background. When they come into the game, they're giving you positive minutes. The starting unit is functioning well offensively and defensively, with Ben out there, man, they challenge every shot.  You don't see teams getting anything up the middle against us anymore.

Our whole team now is focused on dominating the opponent. They're not worried about little petty stuff. The petty stuff is gone. I'm not knocking anybody we had on the team before, but the petty stuff bothered us. This team is focused on one thing: we have this one goal and the question is, how do we get there? They're not worried about the little stuff. There was always a bottleneck there that hurt a good flow. And that's not there anymore.

I just think the individuals we have on the team now, they're mindsets are different. A lot of the guys we had before were set in their ways and some of them didn't know how to be happy. I'm not going to mention any names, but they just didn't know how to be a positive team member. Their whole careers they had been in negative situations. They didn't know how to be positive.

All that has changed. That positive energy is great, and the team is feeding off it. It permeates through the whole team. Now, they have like a college spirit - and that's really refreshing in the pro game.

LeBron has been dominant lately - and he's not even scoring like he has in the past. His defense has been incredible.

LeBron has more energy to play both ends of the floor now. He's a triple-double player - points, rebounds, assists - that's the first premise. He focuses on all three areas during the game. In the past, he had focus on just one - usually scoring - just to keep us competitive. Now, he can play his game and we can win with him playing his game.

That's where we're strongest - when LeBron can play his game and not have to worry about scoring 40 points. That should be the aberration - when he's having an especially hot shooting night. If everything else is constant and LeBron has a night like that, we're really going to blow a team out of the water.

On the defensive end of the floor, whoever LeBron is guarding is going to have a tough night.

The team defense has also been spectacular. What we do now - because we're small in the backcourt - we understand that ball pressure is very important. It keeps our guys from getting posted up so much. That's very important. As long as we concentrate on getting good pressure on the ball out there, then Delonte and Mo won't have problems with consistent post-ups. That matters a lot, because you saw what happened in the Pistons game. Detroit got us into foul trouble immediately.

I know some people are concerned about all these blowouts - that maybe somehow the Cavaliers could lose their "edge."

But I think this is where Coach Brown's style of coaching comes in handy. Because he won't let them get too low when they lose or too high when they win. So they'll still work to get better. In other words, they don't look at the score, they worry about how they played. They know if they play "the right way" - as Coach Brown says - the score will take care of itself.

It's like being in the desert and you don't have any water. Then you find an oasis and you have more water than you can handle. You're still cautious because you might run out. They've seen the downside, so they don't want to get too elated on the upside, because it could go back. And that fear is just enough to keep them level-headed.

As good as they've played, the statistics in December are even better than they were in November. So this team is actually still improving. They're starting to get that swagger. They get offended when they lose a quarter, now. And that's when you know you have a winner. When you see that they're embarrassed any time a team does well against them - that's when you know they have the mentality to win a Championship.

One big thing I wanted to write about before I leave is to say a few words about Zydrunas Ilgauskas - who should break the franchise all-time rebounding record on Tuesday night at The Q.

I have a certain closeness in my heart for Z because I went through almost the exact same thing. Sports medicine was so much better when Z was going through his rehabilitation. He was able to bounce back, whereas I really couldn't.

I have a special feeling in my heart for Z because I understand what it takes to rehab. There are those days where that little man on your shoulder is telling you, "Why don't you just quit? It's not worth it." And then after a while, the little man on the other shoulder is saying, "There might be a chance. There might be a chance." And you go through that battle day-in and day-out.

It's amazing how Z has hung in there, and it's a testament to his individual makeup as a man.

When people ask me about my situation, my most exciting thing after my injury is that I was able to become a starter again after all those major operations. I started for another two years after I came back. And that was one of my proudest accomplishments. I was stuck rehabbing while everyone else was having fun. And that's what Z was doing.

To go through all the operations he's had and all the ups and downs he's had and still be able to produce, and do what he's doing now, it's a testament to him as a professional and as a person.

He'll be the leading rebounder for the Cavaliers, and nobody deserves it more than him. One day, his number will be hanging in the rafters and I'll consider it an honor to be next to him. 

Hey, everyone! It's AC - checking in. What's happening?

That was a great run the Cavaliers just finished up, capping off four games in five nights with a big road win over the Bucks.

I thought about it on the way back from Milwaukee - I thought: this is the first time I've seen the Cavaliers that focused in a situation like the fourth quarter at the Bradley Center. You can tell that there's a higher goal for this team - and they all know it. And I think they just want to keep close to Boston. They want one of those top two spots. They understand the importance of it.

One of the biggest things they have going this year is being able to rest LeBron, where he can stay fresh. You can see the difference. You saw it in the Milwaukee game. It was the fourth game in five nights and he was as fresh as a daisy going down the stretch. Cleveland needed him to get over the hump, and he just took over the game. On some of those layups he just exploded into the basket. And Milwaukee just stood there and watched him score.

To have him fresh like that at the end and to be competitive like that despite shooting as poorly as we were - and they were still able to win. That tells me that the team is focused on higher goals.

They see the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow but they're not losing track of the day-to-day work that it takes to get there.

That game in Milwaukee - the fourth in five nights - that's a game we lose last year. But the team's mindset is different now. They understand that each game has a meaning to it because of what they're trying to reach at the end. And they know: they're off to a good start and they don't want to blow it.

Now, you're starting to see the season being set up - and you can see that the die is being cast. You have Boston, Cleveland, Orlando and, to some extent, Detroit. Everyone else is hovering around .500. That means you have four of five teams fighting for the first four spots and everybody else fighting for the next four.

The battle at the top is awesome, because Boston is back to their old selves now. How Boston is different this year is that Pierce doesn't have to have 28 points to win. Their bench has been giving them big minutes. There has been almost no dropoff with Boston (and their bench) and you might even say that they're better - with House, Tony Allen, Powe.

Boston's confidence is way up and we're about the only team that has the bench that can compete with them. And Boston knows it, too. They know that we're the ones they're going to have to deal with. That's why we have to keep pace with them. Each game is one you want to win and that's the way you have to go about it. You're not going to win all the games, and if you do get on a negative streak - you have to limit it to two games. You have to find a way to come out of it.

It seems like every week a new player or group of players has been stepping it up. Over the past week or so, it's been Big Z.

The big fella's been great lately. And that's the beauty of the Cavaliers right now - total versatility. The Cavaliers can go small, they can go big, and they can play halfcourt with Z.  You can see Z rarely gets double-teamed any more. Now, LeBron is down below the freethrow line and teams are constantly wondering where he is. If you cheat too much on him, you've got Mo and Delonte hovering on the outside and Z down low. If you run at the guards, they'll beat you off the dribble. The whole game has changed because we have guys that can produce at several positions.

So now, when Z gets the ball, teams are really reluctant to double-team him. Teams try to play straight up, and with his ability to pick-and-pop, there's a lot of good things happening. And I think the root of all this is how we're playing LeBron. Teams just can't sit on him any more. And when they do try to sit on him, that's when everything opens up. When he goes to the basket, you don't see a whole bunch of people on him anymore like you used to.

On the defensive end, what I like now - from Z all the way down: is that they don't let you have uncontested shots at the basket. Ben Wallace started that. Ben does not let you come in there free of charge. That just doesn't happen anymore. There's no "free of charge" sign around the basket.

The Cavs get on the floor for loose balls, they do a little full-court pressing. And a lot of it has to do with Ben's agility in that area. He can cover a lot of ground - east to west - and that just confuses a lot of teams. And if we do happen to go against a big four who can score, Ben can shut him down and keep him from his regular production. And that's going to help us win ballgames.

Big Ben's getting back to his old self. He's challenging shots. They're all challenging shots now. Z has always challenged shots, but he was worried about fouls. You can tell though, Z isn't worrying about that right now. He just plays the game. And he and Ben won't allow you to come into the post uncontested. There are very rarely any open lanes to the basket any more.

The defense will get another test on Wednesday when the Knicks roll in.

New York is such a freelance team, it's similar to Golden State - they "junk up" the game. So you have to be ready to stick to your principles and not get caught up in a Wild West show. The Cavaliers are much more mature now and won't be lured into that style of play. They know this it is a game they should win and they'll come out and do the proper things on defense.

What surprises some of these teams - especially these running teams - is that we can run with them. We just take better shots in the running game than they do. And we'll defend. That's the difference. The Knicks, last week in New York, thought they could just out-run us. But that doesn't work anymore. The Cavaliers are much more diversified.

The Cavaliers just need to keep focused and keep beating the teams they're supposed to. The Boston games will roll around soon enough - and those should be some epic battles. And they'll treat those games like playoff games. If we're close in record - as we are now - the next time we play Boston, we have to win that game, because that makes us even at one game apiece.

We want those games to mean something, and the only way to do that is to win these games and take care of your business on a day-to-day basis.

Hey everyone, it's A.C. here! What's happening?

Well, that was an impressive win on Tuesday night in the Garden. The Cavaliers are starting to get on another roll.

It's always good to get a win in Madison Square Garden. This is "the Mecca." It's where it all started, so consequently, everybody wants to have their best game and play well here. Fans understand the game here. They understand a good pass; a good defensive play. The little parts of the game besides just scoring points - they applaud those things and you just appreciate that feeling.

Even when I was in high school, I'd get goosebumps just warming up here. It's just a great place to play.

People were wondering if the Cavaliers players were distracted by the New York media circus around LeBron. I don't think they were, because, really, it doesn't involve them. And to be honest, some of those guys already know what LeBron's going to do. Because LeBron talks to those guys more than he talks to the media. So they have a good feel what's going on. And if you don't hear any of them making any remarks, then I don't think we should be worried about it.

Doing a four-games-in-five-nights stretch can be tough on a team, but they have to work through it. It's a team effort - four in five nights. Everyone knows there are times you're going to be tired and you may not play exceptionally well because of the energy level. That's when your bench has to step up, big time.

The bench has to become a significant part of a four-in-five-night stretch, like they were in New York. The Cavaliers bench had 54 points in New York.  This is why you have to have a strong bench to compete over the course of an 82-game schedule. Every man must play his role for this thing, as a whole, to work.

One thing I like about this team is they don't play down to their competition. They're hungry every night. I don't see them having that same problem because they know the goal is to stay close with Boston. The Cavaliers know they have to keep on winning as long Boston continues winning. It's really the greatest motivation a team can have. We're going after the No. 1 team and we're in the chase for the duration.

The Celtics don't let games go against weaker teams; we can't let those games slip away either. If we lose to a team we should beat, it should be because they really brought their A-game and beat us, not because we took a night off and they brought a higher energy level.

I'm just liking what I see out there by this team - they're distributing the ball, they've turned up the intensity on the defensive end (which has ignited the offense) and when LeBron is out of the game, they're still productive.

Again, the bench is going to have to be productive enough to give the starters some rest. It's as simple as that. They have to produce enough, so that you're not wearing out the starters in order to win these games.

The Cavaliers play more of an up-tempo game this year, but it's still not like the Knicks or Golden State or even Milwaukee play. So the Cavs are going to have focus on their style of play and not get caught up in their style of play, then we'll be alright.

If the Cavs are shooting the ball pretty well, these matchups should be no problem.

Before I go, I want to make sure to wish everyone out there a safe, happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Enjoy the Cavaliers against OK City on Wednesday and your turkey on Thursday.

Happy Thanksgiving and Go Cavs!

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

First of all, congratulations to LeBron for being named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. He's really starting to turn up the heat now - and it's showing in the Cavaliers record.

I really think LeBron is starting to feel how he fits in with this new lineup that we have. He had a slow start because he was feeling his way around - to see how his talents fit in to the team concept. And you can see now that he understands how to keep the offensive flow going. 

He is definitely now understanding how he fits in, and I think by having the added talent that we have, we're now a more viable team, offensively and defensively. I think he's fresher in the fourth quarter where he can finish the game. And this weekend, we saw exactly what management had in mind when they brought in that extra talent.

In Chicago, you saw the difference. The Cavaliers had already begun their comeback when LeBron was at the scorer's table. That can be demoralizing. The good teams don't worry about it. But the average and below average teams, it has some effect on them. The good teams don't care, because they know you're going to have to deal with him either way. They're already set up to combat him.

Teams are now focused on the fact that they can't "sit on" LeBron - with us putting him in different places now. Instead of a steady diet of LeBron at the top of the key, they have to find him cutting off the baseline or coming around a screen. In the first three games, he would make cuts around the basket and the ball wasn't ready to be delivered. But now, the ball is ready to be delivered.

And now he's starting to use his little jump-hook shot. And nobody can stop him when he gets that close to the basket. Once he gets comfortable with the jump-hook, he'll be impossible to guard. He gets that position so well because he's so athletic and strong. He could shoot 15 of those a game and nobody could touch him.

You saw on Friday night how the "small lineup" can work. With the smaller lineup, the quickness is there. They don't allow as much dribble penetration as they used to in the past, and that's huge - especially from the top.

When they go to double-team out front now, very seldom do you see a guy break the double-team and get around the corner like they used to. Now, the Cavaliers send them back the way they came and that, to me, is such a key point.

In basketball, when you press a guy, the one thing you don't want is for that man to break the double-team. If a guy breaks a double-team, you make him break it up the middle because you send him into the teeth of your defense. But when he gets around the top guy and he turns the corner - then you're chasing. There's so many bad things that can happen in that situation. I'm glad to see that doesn't happen too much any more.

One of the most pleasant surprises this season has been Anderson Varejao. Andy's been huge on both ends of the floor.

Offensively, when he receives the ball in the middle, he's a good facilitator now. He's looking to pass the ball, and he's a good finisher when he receives the ball down low. He's playing well within the system.

And defensively, he just gives people fits. Players are always complaining to the referees because he's just an active guy - elbows flying everywhere. He's a key person for our defensive effort because he covers for everyone. And he's not a shot-blocker, but he covers a lot of ground. There's not a lot of passes into the basket.

Back when I played, I would have hated going against a guy like him. And back then, you could be much more physical. He could have bumped you more and put his hands on you and caused even more problems. But, back in my day, we'd have guys who'd try to hurt him because he'd get on your nerves so much. Of course, they don't allow that anymore, either.

Andy was huge in the two games the Cavs won this weekend. In fact, the two games we won this weekend are games I believe we would have lost last season. We just didn't have the firepower, first of all. And we didn't have the team unity to be able to deal with adversity.

Once we started downhill last year, there was a snowball effect. Now, the team is much more together. You can feel it. It is a true "All for One, One for All" mentality. These guys pull together and that means a lot.

What we've seen so far, they're shoring up the third-quarter lapses. You're not seeing that as much. And the fourth quarter is our quarter now. The first and the fourth quarter are ours now. We're scoring over 30 points a quarter and we're not allowing a lot of points. It's a good formula right now - to be able to get off strong and turn it up in the fourth quarter.

This is going to be a very interesting week for the Cavs. All three games are going to be tough because all three teams are better than they were last year. But we're better, as well. I think it's going to come down to getting off to good starts, getting the crowd involved and being able to sustain that level of play.

That's what we've been doing through the first six games - once we establish that level of play, it doesn't drop off with our bench. Milwaukee has a new team, but a talented team. Denver is going to be a tough match for us. Chauncey Billups gives them stability at the point guard, and that makes them even tougher. And Utah's always tough because they move the ball so well and they're disciplined. They have such a good offensive scheme that if you make one mistake - they're going to capitalize on it.

It's going to come down to that old equation, can we defend enough to win.

That's going to help us with all three games this week - even with Milwaukee, because they like to get out and run, too. Mo has a little incentive against Milwaukee, LeBron has incentive against Carmelo and everybody knows about Boozer. So these are games that will have some energy to them.

As a fan, you'll be seeing some good basketball this week.

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

The Cavaliers have a big stretch coming up - five of the next six at home, with four of those games coming against the Central Division. I'm really hoping that they can carry the momentum from Monday night into the next few games.

To this point, the win in Dallas was the best game the Cavaliers have played on both ends of the floor. Defensively, if they come out like that every night, we could win 60 games this year. Every possible position that they needed to be in, they were there. And what really validates the Dallas win is that the Mavericks went out and beat San Antonio the next game. So, beating Dallas at home the way we beat them tells us what type of team we really have the potential to become.

I was worried that when they lost the lead in the third quarter, that would really damage them. But you could feel a relief at the end of the quarter when they withstood the run and got the lead back up. And then they returned to the intensity of the first quarter and put the game away. I loved how the entire team was up on the bench for most of the game, rooting on the guys on the floor.

It's an all for one, one for all team, now. It's not just a slogan.

It's so great to see Ben Wallace healthy again, because you're starting to see his dominance on the defensive end of the floor now. He makes you feel him, and Dirk Nowitzki wanted no part of it. And then Andy came in and just finished him off.

One concern that I do have, though - (and this is something that might hurt us because of our size in the backcourt) - is that we do a lot of switching positions where little guys are forced to guard big guys around the basket. And that could come back to bite us in the end. But right now, our defense on the ball is pretty good, so teams don't really get a good look at the guys who they're wanting to post up. So, that's something the Cavaliers will work on, moving through this.

Wally Szczerbiak is one of the players who's going through this right now. It's going to be tough for him, because he's guarding bigger players. But Wally's a strong guy, and what he's figuring out now is how he can be effective against guys who are larger than him.

That fourth-quarter baseline dunk was so nice to see, because I think he's realizing now that he can beat these bigger guys with his quickness, and that's something he's not really used to. Blocking out and putting a body on guys is going to be something he'll get used to, also.

Wally's a rugged guy, and he realizes that he's undersized. But our guards are undersized, too. So is Ben Wallace. You just go out and play the game. And I think he'll end up doing well at the position. His shooting around the basket is already better. His long-range shooting is still a little off, but around the basket, he's pretty efficient.

Right now, I'm really pleased that the Cavaliers are at 2-2, with three very tough road games already behind them. I actually was looking for 1-3, because I know how we usually start out. But their focus is on becoming a better team without losing focus on winning ballgames.

And it was good to see them finish the Dallas game because that's the only thing they were missing on the road. They were playing three-and-a-half good quarters, and they'd give the other six minutes away with turnovers and bad shots. But that Dallas game showed them how to get across the finish line. And I'm hoping that will give them the understanding of what it takes to cross the finish line on the road.

The big news while we were in Dallas was the Allen Iverson trade to our Division rivals in Detroit.

Iverson always wears us out. And his presence is going to change the Pistons in a profound way. They'll probably start him and bring Stuckey off the bench. But the Pistons are going to have to play to a difference cadence now. Chauncey Billups is more of a calculating guard, whereas Iverson is all over the place. They're going to have to figure out how to run the offense with A.I. at the one. Hamilton might be running off a screen and Iverson will be off doing his own thing. Billups would sit there and wait for the play to open up; I'm not sure Iverson will have the patience for that. They have some work to do.

I don't think he'll be any problem for Detroit. Players all have their issues with their hangers-on and posse and I don't think that'll be a problem. Iverson's been in the league long enough now where he knows how to deal with that stuff. Iverson's going to come in like an angel. He's getting close to the end of his career and he wants to win. I don't think he's going to disrupt anything.

As far as the Central Division, we'll get our first taste of it this week and into next. That why that win in Dallas was so big for the Cavaliers' confidence. Because now that we're home - with all the games coming up at The Q - we can establish our home dominance right now.

And even when you have a road game thrown in the middle of your homestretch - like we do on Saturday night in Chicago - that can be a good thing, IF you're winning. Because they can carry that momentum with them and come back home and keep it going.

If they play their cards right during this stretch, they can create some separation early in the season.