Needless to say, it has been an up and down year for the Rockets. There have been games that we should have won but let slip away for some reason or another. Those are the most frustrating games without a doubt. After 42 games, our record stands at 23-19. If the season ended today, we would be out of the playoffs. Ouch! Luckily we still have 40 games left to make our move towards the playoffs. The Western Conference is the tougher conference. Besides the standard pace setters San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix, there are a number of teams playing at a very high level in the West. New Orleans and Portland are the most surprising teams that have played great. Chris Paul is having an MVP season for the Hornets and the Blazers are playing great team basketball. Golden State, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Denver Nuggets are also playing at a high level as well. Utah, the team that beat us in the playoffs last year, would not even qualify if the playoffs started today. Utah is a really good team too.

While we haven't played our best basketball, our team still feels that we can make a push for the playoffs. It helps to have Tracey McGrady back. Yao is still our best player and our pillar, but we cannot make a push without all of our best players. After 42 games last year our record was 26-15. This year our record is 23-19. Only 3 games behind last years pace! I couldn't believe that stat when I heard it.

We must play incredible team basketball. We must play with a determined passion every night and not take any game for granted. Defense and energy must become our trademark if we have any shot of reaching the post season.

We have not given up on the season. We know we have a great deal of catching up and it will be a long road, but we feel if we come together as a team then we can accomplish anything.

Talk to you soon,

Your friend,

Shane

不必多说，火箭这个赛季有些起起伏伏，有些比赛我们本该取得胜利，结果由于这样那样的原因最终输掉了，这些比赛显然非常让人沮丧。在42场比赛之后，我们的战绩是23胜19负，如果季后赛明天开始，那么我们显然将无缘季后赛了。噢，还好我们还有40场比赛，这让我们依旧保持着冲击季后赛的机会。

西部是个艰难的赛区，除了马刺、小牛、太阳这样的联盟劲旅，还有一些球队也打出了很高的水平，黄蜂和开拓者都是其中的代表，克里斯-保罗这个赛季打出了MVP的水准，开拓者则是依靠整体实力。此外，勇士、湖人，还有掘金也都打出了很高的水平。记得上赛季淘汰了我们的爵士吗？和我们一样，如果季后赛明天开始，他们也将无缘前八，但是他们实际上一支非常厉害的球队。

尽管现在我们还没有打出自己的真实水平，但是整支球队都坚信我们还可以冲进季后赛。感谢上帝，特雷西-迈克格雷迪回来了，姚明也依然是我们最好的球员，是我们的顶梁柱。要知道，如果不能保持健康，我们肯定无法全力冲刺。

上赛季，在42场比赛过后，我们的成绩是26胜15负，和现在相比，我们那时也不过是多赢了3场而已，起初听到，我还有点不相信。

因此，我们必须在下半程打出更好的团队篮球，每个晚上都打出激情，不要轻易认为任何一场比赛是我们肯定可以轻松拿下的。如果我们还想打季后赛，那么记住防守和能量也是必不可少的。

现在，我们还没有放弃这个赛季，虽然我们知道想要追上去还有很长的一段路，但是如果我们团结在一切，那么没有什么是我们做不到的。

下次再见

你们的朋友

肖恩