Memphis Grizzlies: Mike Conley Jr. season review

Mike Conley Jr.’s season ended much too early. To reflect this, let’s kick off the player season review early with the star point guard.

Mike Conley Jr. spent way too much of this season in a suit and dress pants. He injured his Achilles tendon on Nov. 14, and while it was thought that he could return to the Memphis Grizzlies for some time, he was ultimately ruled out for the season in mid-January.

Because of this, two things happened. The first is that we are able to recap his full season before the Grizzlies play all of their games. The other is that the Grizzlies spiraled out of control. Conley only played in 12 total games, and yet the Grizz were 7-5 when he put a jersey on.

You read that right, Conley was a part of seven of the team’s wins. Memphis has 21 wins now. With seven games to go, Conley is still a part of one-third of the team’s wins, despite playing in only 12 games.

No stat I could dig up would describe Conley’s impact more effectively than that. He isn’t the fastest guy or the most athletic guy. He’s not the greatest shooter or finisher. But Mike Conley is a smart dude, and he makes countless winning plays night in and night out. The Grizzlies missed that for a majority of their season, and it cost them big time.

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What makes this even crazier is that Conley was having a down year statistically and yet was still impacting winning basketball. His 3-point percentage was 31.2 percent, which would have been a career low by nearly two percent. His steals, rebounds, and assists per game were all down at career low figures. And yet, he was still arguably the most important Memphis Grizzlies player in his short stint on the court.

Let these stats soak in: Out of 23 guys who have suited up for Memphis this year, Conley is still ninth on the Grizzlies roster in free throws made, 11th in assists, and 12th in 3-pointers made. He literally could do it all, and that is what made him so missed.

How was he able to be so effective? Defense and his aforementioned brains. Conley is the king that makes all the pawns move on both ends of the floor.

His 103.1 defensive rating is still one of the best figures of anyone who suited up in Grind City this year. He wasn’t deterred by any size disadvantages. He was excellent at sniffing out the perfect time to reach in for steals. He kept his chest up high and as a result of all of these things, he can shut down anyone:

As already mentioned, Conley might not be the most athletic guy, but he still knows his limitations. He always times his jumps into passing lanes at the perfect moment, a skill that will not disappear with age since it involved smarts and acumen:

He didn’t lose any of his skills from years past on the defensive end, and because it involves technique and timing more than athleticism, there is hope that he can be just as effective on that end of the floor going forward.

Offensively, we may have a different story. He just crossed age 30 and while his brains and basketball IQ continue to grow, some other parts of his game took a hit this year.

Like I already mentioned, his 3-point percentage was down. Like, way down. But, according to Basketball-Reference, he got worse at finishing from … well, everywhere else too.

From 0-3 feet, his shooting percentage dropped three points from 2016-17. From 3-10 feet, it fell eight percent. 10-16 feet? You guessed it, 15.5 percent worse. And closing it out, long 2s hold the pattern, dropping by 8.4 percent from last season to this one.

Shots like this are something the veteran used to have in his repertoire, but not anymore:

Conley might have had a small sample size, but being a worse shooter from pretty much everywhere is very concerning. Coming off of another injury, it is hard to see him bucking that trend.

A lot of other stuff got worse offensively too. His assist totals took a huge hit. His rebounding numbers took a tiny hit. If it weren’t for Conley’s defense, this season could have been very alarming.

Despite the offensive struggles, he still has a top five offensive rating on his team, and better than any of his replacements. What does that mean as the season comes to an end?

Next: 2017-18 Week 24 NBA Power Rankings

It means the Memphis Grizzlies need Mike Conley. He may be getting worse on the offensive end, but his defense and IQ make him a very positive and talented player. HIs 2017-18 season was underwhelming, but there are signs that he will be back on his feet and helping Memphis win games next year.