Shane Battier
PEAK Blog
April 9, 2008.
 
We have finally clinched a playoff spot and we only have 4 games left in our season. It's crazy because the season (as always) seems to fly by. It seems like yesterday that we were in Austin, Texas for the start of training camp. When your team is winning and you enjoy your teammates, the season goes by very fast. I am proud of the fact that this is the fifth season out of my seven years in the NBA that teams that I have played on have made the playoffs. I have been very fortunate. Some players play their entire career and never experience playoff basketball. 
 

My first year in the NBA was definitely the longest. Our team, the Memphis Grizzlies, was horrible and not everyone on the team got along with each other. I appreciate a team like we have today where everyone gets along so well.
 

We have had so many highs and lows during this season. We started the year 6-1. Optimism was high, and we felt great about ourselves. Many people thought we had the makings of a championship team. We then proceeded to lose 6 games in a row. Those same people who said that we were a great team and should have championship aspirations, were now talking bad about us and doubted our chances of being a good team.
 

We wallowed through the first half of the season playing .500 basketball. It just didn't seem like we could get anything going. Many media outlets were calling us the most disappointing team in the NBA. Very few people had faith in us anymore. We stood at 24-20.
 

Little did we know that our 25th win, against the Golden State Warriors at home, would start us on a record breaking run of 22 straight victories. We knew our schedule became considerably easier and that we needed to take advantage of the weaker teams we were playing in order to jump back into the playoff race. What we didn't envision was the high level of basketball our team attained.
 

The streak was so amazing. It seemed like every night, someone new stepped up their game and led us to victory. We were playing as a team and playing beautiful basketball.
 

After our 12th win, our team received devastating news: Yao would miss the remaining games of the season with a stress fracture in his foot. Our team (and Yao for that matter) was really down and sad. For a second, it seemed that all of our hard work would go down in vain.

 
But an amazing thing happened: we believed in each other! Not only did we not lose immediately, we won 10 more straight games and set the second longest winning streak record in the NBA with 22 straight wins!!!!!
 

People still did not think we would make the playoffs and discounted us. We always stayed together and never made excuses. To make the playoffs, despite injury and the doubts that others had for us is a great accomplishment. One that I am very proud of.
 

We are excited about clinching a playoff birth, but we know our work is not done. It is time to advance deep into the playoffs. It will be difficult without our best player Yao, but one thing we learned about this year is that anything is possible when you play as a team and believe!!!!

Cheer us on,,
 
Your friend,
 
Shane

我们终于锁定了季后赛的名额，这个赛季只剩下4场比赛了。这个赛季跌宕起伏太疯狂了。我们赛季初在奥斯丁、德克萨斯训练营的日子仿佛还是昨天的事情。当你的球队赢得比赛，而且你也很享受与队友的相处的时候，时间总是过的很快。我很自豪，在我职业生涯7年的时间中，今年是第五年我所在的球队杀进季后赛。要知道，一些球队打了一辈子也不一定尝试过季后赛的滋味。

我进入NBA的第一年是漫长的。我们的球队，孟菲斯灰熊，在球队中大家相处的都不是很好。我很喜欢现在的球队，大家都能够融洽的在一起。

这个赛季有太多的跌宕和波折。我们6胜1负开局，如此高调和乐观的开始，我们都觉得自己很了不起。很多人都认为我们是冠军的热门人选。但是接下来我们却遭遇了六连败。这时候，那些认为我们是一支伟大的球队，将会夺取冠军的人们开始质疑我们，质疑我们是否能够变成一支优秀的球队。

整个上半个赛季我们都在50%左右的胜率中打滚。很多媒体都将我们归为最令人失望的球队之一。很少有人再信任我们，我们仅仅取得了24胜20负的战绩。

我们从来都不知道，主场与金州勇士的比赛，我们的第25场胜利会是一个22连胜纪录的起点。我们只是知道，接下来的赛程会相对的容易，我们需要在弱旅面前把握住优势，为了重返季后赛种子球队的行列而奋斗。我们所没有预想到的是我们的球队水平所达到的一个高度。

连胜真是太不可思议了。似乎每个晚上都有新的提高从而让我们赢得比赛。我们像一个团队一样去战斗，打出了漂亮的比赛。

我们的12连胜之后，球队收到了一个坏消息：姚明因为脚的骨折而将退出本赛季所有的比赛。我们的球队一下子跌入了谷底，并且大家都很伤心。顷刻间，我们所有的辛苦的努力仿佛都要付之东流了。

但是令人惊异的事情就在这个时候发生了：我们都如此的信任彼此！我们不仅仅没有面对溃败，我们赢下了接下来的连续10场比赛，并且创下了NBA历史上第二长的连胜纪录，22连胜！

但是人们仍旧不看好我们能够进入季后赛。可是我们团结在一起，不找任何的借口。我们全力的去争取，不管伤病和人们的质疑，并且最终完成了这一目标。我很自豪。

我们很兴奋锁定了季后赛，但是我们也知道自己的工作还没有完成。现在的任务是如何在季后赛走得更远。失去我们最好的球员姚明，这将是一件非常艰难的事情。但是从今年的经历我们明白了，一切皆有可能，当你像团队一样去战斗，并且给与彼此深深的信任！

为我们加油吧，
你的朋友，
肖恩