Mike Conley, Jr.

Mike Conley, Jr.

Conley with the Grizzlies in November 2013
No. 11 – Memphis Grizzlies
Position Point guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1987-10-11) October 11, 1987
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Lawrence North
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
College Ohio State (2006–2007)
NBA draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Playing career 2007–present
Career history
2007–present Memphis Grizzlies
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Michael Alex "Mike" Conley, Jr. (born October 11, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), he plays the point guard position. Conley has played with the Grizzlies since being drafted fourth overall in the 2007 NBA draft. Conley is the son of Olympic gold and silver medalist triple jumper Mike Conley, Sr.

High school career

Conley attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, where he helped lead the team to three straight state championships and an overall record of 103–7 in his four years as the starting point guard. His senior year, he dished out a total of 123 assists. Conley finished second in the voting of the Indiana Mr. Basketball award to his teammate Greg Oden, who was the national player of the year. He was selected to the McDonald's All American team. Conley was also named a third-team Parade All-American.

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Conley was listed as the No. 3 point guard and the No. 18 player in the nation in 2006.[1]

He committed to Ohio State University as a part of the number two recruiting class in the country that year along with fellow AAU teammates Daequan Cook, Greg Oden, and Mark Titus.

College career

His freshman year, Conley averaged 11.3 points and was the leader in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 6.1 per game. Conley and fellow freshman star Greg Oden led the Ohio State Buckeyes to a Big Ten conference championship and a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament.[2]

On the road to the championship game, Ohio State defeated Central Connecticut State, Xavier, Tennessee, Memphis and Georgetown, only to lose in the championship game to the repeat national champions Florida. Conley's best performance in the tournament came against Xavier. He recorded 21 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks as Ohio State defeated Xavier in overtime. Greg Oden fouled out in regulation and Conley scored 11 of his 21 points in the extra period to lead the Buckeyes to a victory.[3]

Conley ended his season with totals of 441 points and 238 assists and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

Following his freshman season, Conley announced his intention to enter the 2007 NBA draft along with Oden. He initially did not sign with an agent in order to preserve his eligibility to withdraw from the draft but ended up signing with his father several weeks before the draft.[4]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Ohio State 39 39 31.6 .518 .304 .694 3.4 6.1 2.2 .3 11.3
Career 39 39 31.6 .518 .304 .694 3.4 6.1 2.2 .3 11.3

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2007–present)

2007 NBA draft

Conley joined fellow Buckeye teammates Greg Oden and Daequan Cook in declaring for the 2007 NBA draft. Conley and Oden were represented by Conley's father who became certified as an agent by the NBA just prior in the year. Conley was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fourth overall pick after Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and Al Horford.

2007–08 season

Conley made his first major appearances in January 2008. Conley's first five career games, he scored 5, 10, 11, 11, and 15 points respectively. He scored a season-high 20 points with 7 assists in a 134–124 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.[5] Conley finished his rookie year with averages of 9.4 points and 4.2 assists per game.

2008–09 season

Conley started his sophomore campaign competing with Kyle Lowry for minutes. On January 25, 2009, the Grizzlies named Lionel Hollins head coach after firing previous head coach Mark Iavaroni. On February 19, 2009, Lowry was traded to the Houston Rockets, putting Conley in the starting lineup. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.3 assists per game on the year.

2009–10 season

Conley became the permanent starter for the Grizzlies in 2009. He scored a season high 25 points on March 31, 2010 in the Grizzlies' 102–106 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[6] He averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 assists on the season.

2010–11 season

On November 30, Conley had a season-high 28 points in a 98–96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Conley averaged 13.7 and 6.5 assists on the year to help the Grizzlies make the playoffs for the first time in five years. They entered with the eighth seed in the western conference and were matched up with the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round. Conley and the Grizzlies would go on to beat the Spurs in six games and became only the second eight seed to defeat a one seed in a seven-game series in NBA history. They would then lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semi-finals in seven games.

2011–12 season

In the lockout shortened season, Conley played 62 of the 66 games and averaged 12.7 points and 6.5 assists. Conley and the Grizzlies would make the playoffs but were eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round.

2012–13 season

On the year, Conley averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game as the Grizzlies made the playoffs once again. They eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on the way to reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. They then lost to the San Antonio Spurs in four games. Conley was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the first time.

2013–14 season

Conley averaged a career-high 17.2 points, 6.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game on the year as the Grizzles made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. They were then eliminated in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games. Conley was the recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award.

2014–15 season

On December 13, 2014, Conley scored a career-high 36 points to help the Grizzlies defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 120–115 in overtime.[7] The Grizzlies finished the season as the fifth seed in Western Conference and made the playoffs once again. They faced the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round and defeated them in five games. At the end of Game 3 in the series, Conley suffered a facial fracture and missed the rest of the first round. He also missed Game 1 of the semi-finals against the Golden State Warriors. Conley returned in Game 2, while donning a protective mask, and scored 21 points to lead Memphis to a victory. However, they eventually lost the series in six games.[8]

2015–16 season

On October 31, 2015, Conley surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim (7,801) for third on the Grizzlies' career scoring list. He scored 22 points against the Brooklyn Nets to finish the game with 7,821 career points.[9] On January 18, 2016, Conley returned to the lineup after missing six games with a sore left Achilles and recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 assists, helping the Grizzlies defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 101–99. Earlier that day, he was named one of the 30 finalists for the 2016 U.S. Olympic team.[10] On March 12, he was ruled out for three to four weeks with a left foot injury.[11] He was later ruled out for the rest of the season on April 4 following a re-evaluation by team doctors, and hoping to return during playoffs.[12] The injury-riddled Grizzlies finished seventh in the Western Conference, and without Conley and Marc Gasol, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. On April 23, Conley was awarded the NBA Sportsmanship Award for the second time.[13]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 Memphis 53 46 26.1 .428 .330 .732 2.6 4.2 .8 .0 9.4
2008–09 Memphis 82 61 30.6 .442 .406 .817 3.4 4.3 1.1 .1 10.9
2009–10 Memphis 80 80 32.1 .445 .387 .743 2.4 5.3 1.4 .2 12.0
2010–11 Memphis 81 81 35.5 .444 .369 .733 3.0 6.5 1.8 .2 13.7
2011–12 Memphis 62 61 35.1 .433 .377 .861 2.5 6.5 2.2 .2 12.7
2012–13 Memphis 80 80 34.5 .440 .362 .830 2.8 6.1 2.2 .3 14.6
2013–14 Memphis 73 73 33.5 .450 .361 .815 2.9 6.0 1.5 .2 17.2
2014–15 Memphis 70 70 31.8 .446 .386 .859 3.0 5.4 1.3 .2 15.8
2015–16 Memphis 56 56 31.4 .422 .363 .834 2.9 6.1 1.2 .3 15.3
Career 637 608 32.5 .440 .373 .806 2.9 5.6 1.5 .2 13.6

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011 Memphis 13 13 39.0 .388 .297 .830 3.8 6.4 1.1 .2 15.2
2012 Memphis 7 7 39.6 .421 .500 .750 3.3 7.1 .9 .0 14.1
2013 Memphis 15 15 38.3 .384 .281 .763 4.7 7.1 1.7 .3 17.0
2014 Memphis 7 7 38.1 .431 .111 .769 4.6 7.9 2.0 .1 15.9
2015 Memphis 8 8 30.4 .427 .303 .821 1.1 5.0 1.4 0.0 14.4
Career 50 50 37.4 .403 .290 .784 3.7 6.7 1.4 .2 15.5

Personal life

Conley is a Christian. Conley has spoken about his faith saying, "Jesus means the world. Jesus means everything."[14]

Conley is the son of Olympic gold and silver medalist triple jumper Mike Conley, Sr., nephew of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Steve Conley, and grandson of Alex Conley.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mike Conley Recruiting Profile
  2. ↑ Mike Conley Stats, Video, Bio, Profile
  3. ↑ Ohio State overcomes late deficit, wins in overtime
  4. ↑ Source: Oden ends speculation, to declare for NBA
  5. ↑ Mike Conley 2007–08 Game Log
  6. ↑ Mike Conley 2009–10 Game Log
  7. ↑ Conley's 36 lead Grizzlies past 76ers in overtime
  8. ↑ Mike Conley 2014–15 Game Log
  9. ↑ Conley scores 22 points as Grizzlies defeat Nets 101–91
  10. ↑ Gasol helps Memphis beat New Orleans 101–99
  11. ↑ Mike Conley & Chris Anderson Update
  12. ↑ Sources: Mike Conley (Achilles) unlikely to return to Grizzlies lineup
  13. ↑ "Mike Conley awarded 2015-16 NBA's Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Memphis Grizzlies point guard Conley lives for Jesus on, off basketball court". thealabamabaptist.org. March 7, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

External links

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