vrcanaries Chapter 366 First Player of the Week in His Clippers Career
Chapter 366 First Player of the Week in His Clippers Career
For Jia Fei, the Player of the Week award is hardly a big honor. In the 2014-15 season, when he won the MVP, he won Player of the Week awards almost non-stop.
According to the law of diminishing marginal utility, it's unlikely that Player of the Week will significantly improve Jia Fei's historical standing. However, this doesn't mean it's meaningless, considering he missed a full season, and this is his first Player of the Week since switching teams.
Winning Player of the Week means his health is at least okay. It doesn't necessarily mean he's made a triumphant return, but at least he's still at the level of a champion.
On the evening of the 1st, at the Staples Center, the Clippers continued to play at home against the Suns, who were also from the Western Conference.
The Suns finished second-to-last in the Western Conference last season and made no major moves during the offseason. According to predictions from media outlets such as ESPN, they will continue to compete with the Lakers and Timberwolves for the last place in the Western Conference next season.
Staples Center's attendance remains impressive, even though the Clippers aren't the most popular team among Los Angeles basketball fans. Similarly, despite the Lakers' dismal performance last season, there's still a steady stream of fans. The size of the market makes a huge difference; in smaller markets, poor performance inevitably impacts attendance.
This game was broadcast live on ESPN, with ESPN's chief commentator Mike Breen and former Warriors head coach Mark Jackson providing the commentary.
The starting lineups for both teams have been announced, with the Clippers' starting lineup remaining unchanged from their two-game winning streak.
The Suns' starting lineup consists of Tyson Chandler, Dudley, TJ Warren, Eric Bledsoe, and Brandon Knight.
Even with boxing legend Tyson Chandler, the Suns' defense remains weak. Moreover, Chandler is no longer the player he once was; he's aged and can no longer protect the rim or provide sustained energy like he used to.
The biggest problem for the Suns right now is that they haven't found a true cornerstone for the team. It's clear that none of the five starters are a cornerstone, and neither Chriss nor Lens, who are on the bench, have the potential to become a franchise player.
For teams that can't attract big names in the free market, the best way to rebuild is to tank. But tanking is an art; if you don't act well, you'll not only get penalized, but you'll also dampen the fans' enthusiasm and create a terrible team atmosphere. The best way to tank is to trade away your best players and become genuinely bad. Once you become genuinely bad, tanking becomes a natural and logical progression.
The players on both sides were quite friendly; they weren't rivals with any grudges, and neither team was competing for the top draft pick. For everyone, it was just an ordinary regular season game.
DeAndre Jordan and the boxer are preparing for the jump ball near center circle; the game is about to begin.
The jump ball began, and DeAndre Jordan failed to win the jump ball for the third consecutive game. The boxer's height and wingspan still mattered, and the Suns gained possession of the ball on the first offensive possession.
Knight dribbles the ball across half-court.
When Knight is mentioned, two images come to mind for many fans. Image one: during the All-Star Rising Stars Challenge, Kyrie Irving faked him out with a fancy dribble and hit a jump shot; image two: DeAndre Jordan's alley-oop dunk over him, as if killing him, this dunk became one of the top 5 dunks of that season.
I wonder if Knight has any psychological trauma from seeing DeAndre Jordan now. Jia Fei saw the replay of that play, and it was indeed brutal. But from another perspective, Knight shouldn't be criticized; he should be praised. If Knight hadn't been so aggressive on defense, he wouldn't have been dunked on at all.
Knight used a screen to drive and pass to Warren in the corner.
Regardless of whether he receives the ball and makes a second drive, he pushes past Wesley Johnson and scores with a jump shot!
The Suns scored first!
The Clippers were on offense, and Beverley passed the ball to Jia Fei.
Jia Fei has the ball, sets a screen with DeAndre Jordan, and throws the ball into the air!
DeAndre Jordan leaps high and completes an alley-oop dunk with both hands!
2: 2!
The Staples Center erupted in cheers. Many fans thought that with the departure of 58 and Shaq, "Lob City" would become history. However, in the past two games, Jia Fei and other players have shown everyone with their actions that the Clippers are still "Lob City," and Jia Fei is still the Slam Dunk King!
Suns are on offense. Bledsoe drives hard past Jia Fei and passes to Dudley, who is cutting to the basket!
Dudley attempted a layup but missed!
DeAndre Jordan grabbed the rebound and passed it to Jia Fei to push the ball up the court.
Jia Fei pushed the ball up the court, and when he got to the three-point line, he dribbled seemingly casually. Suddenly, he made a Schroder-style spin move, shook off Blake, drove to the basket, took a step and rose up to dunk with a tomahawk dunk!
Wow--
"Bang—Jia Fei's tomahawk dunk gives the Los Angeles Clippers a 2-point lead!" Mike Breen announced in his distinctive commentary.
The Suns' offense was still decent. Warren went one-on-one against Wesley Johnson, missed a floater, but grabbed the rebound himself and put it back in for a basket!
4: 4!
Beverley dribbles the ball over.
Bledsoe was guarding Jia Fei, despite the significant height difference between them. Bledsoe, a former Clippers player, was affectionately nicknamed "Chicken Blood Bledsoe" by fans for his incredibly energetic play. Guarding shorter players is Bledsoe's routine; he rarely lets anyone shorter than him go unchallenged, as he plays the shooting guard position.
Faced with the blood-stained cloth, Jia Fei reached out for the ball.
Beverley lobbed the ball over, but it was a bit high!
But Jia Fei jumped lightly and still managed to reach it!
Bloodcloth reached down to grab the ball after Jia Fei had dropped it, but Jia Fei had kept the ball up!
Jia Fei caught the ball with one hand, and many female fans in the stadium couldn't help but scream. Wow, it's rare to see a man catch a ball this cool with one hand these days. The last man who looked this cool was Tracy McGrady.
Jia Fei made a feint with one hand, but the blood-stained cloth didn't move.
Jia Fei kept his pivot foot still and took a step diagonally with his other foot.
As the blood-stained cloth shifted slightly, Jia Fei suddenly pulled up, leaped high, and launched his attack.
Bloodcloth had tried his best to jump and block, but Nike was too short and had a poor jumping ability, so he could only watch helplessly as Jia Fei made his jump shot.
"Swish—" The ball went into the basket!
Mark Jackson laughed, "That was a real face-to-face shot! Jia Fei's ability is truly amazing!"
Jia Fei waved his hand, looking very innocent, as if to say, "I clearly didn't do it on purpose, he forced me to vote!" Wow, what a great act!
Bloodcloth made a strong attack on Jia Fei, but was almost blocked – missed!
Harris gets the rebound, dribbles the ball on the fast break, and passes to Jia Fei in the middle after being delayed!
Jia Fei received the ball, faked out Blake, accelerated like a sports car, drove into the middle, jumped from the free-throw line, and took off like an airplane...
Beverly, who was standing not far from him, gaped in astonishment!
The fans at the scene were equally surprised. Many fans could hardly believe their eyes. Was this someone who had just returned from a season-ending injury?