SHANE BATTIER

PEAK BLOG

September 30, 2009

It's basketball season once again! I know all the Houston Rockets fans are as excited as the players to get this season started. Optimism, as always, is high right now. Everyone has playoff aspirations and plans for successful seasons. Our team is no different.

There has been much said about the absence of our two main players, Yao and Tracy McGrady. Many people have already written our team off as too small and too inexperienced to be a playoff team in the Western Conference. Good. We actually like it when people doubt us. One thing I have learned in the years I have been in Houston is that it does not matter what anyone says about your team. The only thing that matters is the commitment and the will of the team. When Yao got hurt against the Lakers last year in the playoffs, no one dreamed that we would win another game against the Lakers, we proved everyone who doubted us wrong by winning not one, but two more games and pushing the Lakers to the 7th game. The situation is similar this year with Yao missing the entire upcoming season, the only difference is that we have 82 games to prove everyone wrong this year.

I like the athletic nature of our team. Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowery, and Trevor Ariza are going to be great in the open court this year. We will be a better fast breaking team this year. Luis Scola and I will try to lead this team this year. I am now the oldest player on the team. I really can't believe it, because it seems like yesterday that I was one of the young guys running around. I guess it shows now that I am one of the older guys, because on th
first day of training camp, I pulled my hamstring and will have to miss a week. It's nothing serious, but it is important to heal completely, so that this is not a nagging injury for the entire year.

I am excited about the potential of this team. On paper, we may not intimidate other teams, but when teams play against us, they will quickly learn that few teams will play with as much heart and passion as our team. This is a team that you can root for.

I will give you an update later in the weeks to let you know who is playing well as well as send some pictures of my trip to China this summer.

Talk to you guys soon.

Shane

    一个属于篮球的赛季再一次到来了！我知道所有休斯顿的球迷对于新赛季的到来都和球员们一样兴奋不已。现在我们的团队和以往没有什么不同，还是一如既往的乐观，一样的兴奋。每一个人都希望新赛季能够打进季后赛，每个人都为一个成功的赛季做着准备。

最近有不少关于我们缺阵的两位主力——姚明和麦蒂的评论。在许多人的文章里，我们已经不被看好，说我们没有足够的经验成为西部季后赛球队中的一员。这很好，我们都喜欢被人们怀疑。来到休斯顿的这些年，我懂得了一个道理，那就是不要在乎任何人关于你团队的评论，唯一需要在意的是自己承担的义务和球队的意愿。上赛季季后赛对阵湖人，姚明受伤后，没有人认为我们还会再战胜湖人。事实证明他们的怀疑完全错了，我们不只又赢了一场，而是把湖人拖入了第七场的生死大战。今年的形势是一样的，姚明会错过整个赛季，唯一的区别是我们今年会用82场比赛来证明大家的怀疑是错的。

    我喜欢我们的球队，布鲁克斯，洛瑞和阿里扎今年一定会大放异彩，我们会成为一支优秀的快攻球队，我和斯科拉会去尝试领导球队。我现在是队里年龄最大的球员，我真的不敢相信，因为这一切还像是在昨天，我还是一名年轻的球员在球场上奔跑。训练营的第一天，我拉伤了我的腿部肌腱，并且在今后的一周都没法打球，我猜这说明我真的是一名老将了。不过这没什么大不了的，重要的是能够痊愈，这伤不会困扰我一整年的。

我很高兴看到球队潜力无限，理论上我们不惧怕任何球队，但当你遇到其他的球队时，你会发现他们和你一样充满了勇气和激情。不管怎么说，我们是一支值得去支持的球队。

过几周我再更新我的博客，让你知道球队里谁打得好。我还会放一些今年夏天中国之行的照片。

回头见伙计们。

肖恩