我现在已经身在犹他州，昨天我们刚刚在圣安东尼奥战胜了马刺。圣安东尼奥是联盟中最难攻克的主场之一，球队展现出的刚强和坚毅令我骄傲。我们本赛季可谓诸事不顺：主力球员的伤病、球员交易，输给垫底球队，缺乏化学反应……想想这些事情，你对于我们目前的排名就会感到不可思议了，我们现在排在西南赛区第一，在整个西部排名第二。

我想除了因为我们拥有一批努力、团结的球员之外，没有别的解释。本赛季有许多人都有了飞快的进步，这是真正的团队篮球。

有人问我季后赛我们最想碰哪支球队。我很早以前就明白，不应该去选择对手，也不别去选择躲避谁。西部球队都很强，所以我们肯定将碰上一支强队。所以我们不需要花时间来考虑这个问题。

明天我们将迎来另一场艰苦的比赛，对手是爵士。希望我们能继续前进！

另外，本周对于巴蒂尔一家来说相当紧张。我所支持的杜克蓝魔将在周四的NCAA比赛中迎战维拉诺瓦。你们知道我曾在2001年代表杜克拿到了一个全国冠军，但你们不知道的是，我的妻子海蒂毕业于维拉诺瓦大学。我们在家已经唇枪舌剑了。我们的儿子奇克穿着杜克的球衣、维拉诺瓦的帽子和袜子。这让才10个月大的他感到非常矛盾。我老婆的很多朋友也在喋喋不休，我们已经押了一些钱。对杜克大学来说，这场比赛很艰苦，对我来说，如果他们输了，这日子更是没法过！所以杜克加油啊！！！！！！！！！！

保重，

肖恩

原文如下——

March 23, 2009

I am sitting here in Utah, a day after an improbable win against the San Antonio Spurs. San Antonio is one of the most difficult places to win and I am really proud of our team to show perseverance and fortitude in our win. We have had so much malaise this year, from the injuries to key players on the team, to the trades, to the bad losses to last place teams and to the lack of chemistry. Considering all of the things that have happened to our team, it's pretty amazing to look at the standings today and see that we are in first place in the Southwest division and in second place in the tough Western Conference.

I really can't explain it, other than we have a group of players who play hard, try to play together, and don't make excuses. We have had so many guys step up all year long, it has been a true team effort.

People ask me what team that I would prefer we play in the playoffs. I learned long ago that I never hope to play a team nor do I try to duck a team. The Western Conference is so good, we know that we will play a great team regardless. So we don't wasting time worrying about it.

We have another tough game tomorrow against the Jazz. Hopefully we can keep this train rolling!

On another note, this is a very stressful week in the Battier household. My beloved Duke Blue Devils are playing the Villanova Wildcats in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. As you know, I went to Duke and won a national championship in 2001, what you don't know is that my wife, Heidi, attended Villanova University. There has been trash talking already. Our son Zeke will be wearing his Duke shirt and Villanova hat and socks. He feels very conflicted for a 10 month old. Many of my wife's friends are talking trash as well and we have already placed a few wagers on the game. It will be a tough game for Duke, but it will be much tougher for me if they lose! So GO DUKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be well,

Shane