Five issues from Utah Jazz loss to Grizzlies perfectly encapsulate season’s woes

Mike Conley has to find himself

Even though it’s often necessary, I don’t like to be critical. Sometimes when I write pieces like this describing what the Jazz can work on to improve, I worry that I’m coming off as overly negative. Let me reiterate that even if there are things Mitchell, Ingles, and others need to work on, I still also recognize the positive they bring, love having them on the team and believe in what they can do and be.

That same sentiment goes one hundred percent for Mike Conley. I love and believe in the guy even during his struggles as he adjusts to playing for the Utah Jazz. Nevertheless, this is one of those times where some tough love is necessary. The Utah Jazz badly need Conley to become the player they expected him to be. The excuses have to stop, the adjustment has to take place, the emergence has to occur. Utah simply can’t be successful with Conley playing as he has.

Friday’s performance was perfectly indicative of that. I understand that it was an emotional reunion for Conley, playing back in the city and in front of the fans that meant so much for him. But there have been excuses for Conley’s woeful play all year long, and at some point those aren’t going to hold any more.

Against the Grizzlies, he went just 5-of-19 from the field including 2-of-8 from deep. For what it’s worth, he also went 3-of-5 from the free throw line, leaving two crucial points on the table in a one-point loss.

Again, unfortunate though it is to say, that performance wasn’t so much a surprise based on what we’ve seen out of Conley thus far. Through the first 12 games, he’s putting up a career low 35.6 percent from the field and his worst three-point mark since his rookie season at 33.3 percent. He’s also at his worst assists and turnovers marks at 3.9 and 2.6 respectively.

Needless to say, it’s been a rocky start for Conley. In almost every one of Utah’s losses, if he shoots even a career average percentage, the Jazz likely win the game. The same could be said for Friday’s defeat where Conley’s inability to find his shot effectively sunk the Jazz.

Fortunately, before Friday’s nightmarish performance, Conley had started to show some improvements during the month of November. He’s been a roller-coaster performer thus far, but hopefully the emotional night in Memphis was more of a fluke and the Jazz will benefit from more games like the ones he had against Golden State, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

For now, though, Conley’s struggles are still a major contributor to Utah’s overall woes this season, just as they were in such prevalence on Friday against the Grizzlies.