Mike Conley looked phenomenal against the Indiana Pacers on Monday. Hopefully it will be a sign of things to come for the Utah Jazz.
During Mike Conley‘s most recent absence, the Utah Jazz played tremendously. During that span of games he missed, they rattled off 10 straight victories, saw their bench improve mightily and performed dominantly against the majority of their foes.
Considering how much he had struggled and how well the Jazz were playing without him, some Jazz fans went as far as to suggest that the team should aim to trade him. Or at a minimum, dramatically lower his role once he returned.
However, the Jazz front office, coaching staff and Conley’s teammates all knew that sentiment was hogwash. Dennis Lindsey and Co. had spent multiple seasons attempting to land Mike for a reason. They knew what he could be and how well he could fit in this system. Quin Snyder, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and the rest of the guys all know how vital Conley is to Utah’s championship hopes as well.
True, he has to be much better than what he’s shown thus far. Yet the Utah Jazz’s ability to reach their utmost ceiling hinges on Conley rediscovering the Memphis Grizzlies version of himself and thriving with the Salt Lake City squad. Conley has been a fringe All-Star guy his entire career and is very much capable of racking up points, spreading the floor and setting up his teammates with jaw-dropping dimes.
In short, Conley is the missing piece that the Jazz already have on their roster. And now that he’s healthy, he could very well be the one to take this squad to the next level.
They’ve already turned the corner from their early slow start and are beginning to figure things out, especially now that the bench is clicking. Imagine if they can then add a healthy and productive Conley to that mix. Suddenly, this Jazz team is going to become the scary team many projected them to be all along. In fact, they could very well be the team that many may have prematurely been wishing away with their foolishly placed desires of trading Conley.
Yes, Conley still has a lot to prove this season to reach that point I’m describing, but he has a lengthy NBA career as evidence that he will get there. The Jazz typically get off to a slow start but they seem to be past that, and the tweaks they’ve made to their second unit have apparently galvanized the team in a big way. I project that Conley will be the next key domino to fall in their progression this season.
He already showed massive strides in that area in Utah’s impressive blowout win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday wherein the Jazz came away with a 30-point victory. Several guys stood out in that contest and one of the most attention-grabbing was certainly Mike Conley.
He finished the game with 14 points in just 18 minutes of play as he remains on a minutes restriction to fully recover from his former hamstring injury. To reach those 14 points, Conley went a highly efficient 6-of-8 from the field including 2-of-3 from deep. He also added a pair of nice dimes and had some even better assists in the previous game against the Sacramento Kings. In short, he little by little is beginning to look yet again like the Conley of old.
With how reassuring he looked in those brief 18 minutes on Monday, hopefully that bright performance was a sign of incredible things to come for Conley.
He’ll have a significant chance to prove himself in Utah’s upcoming stretch. After Wednesday’s bout against the Golden State Warriors, the Jazz will face 10 games leading up to the All-Star break against playoff or near-playoff caliber foes. Mike will be thrown into the fire, so to speak, but those red-hot flames of adversity could very well bring out his best and get him back to his former expert levels.
I’ve been bullish on Conley for quite some time and remain ecstatic that he is a part of this Jazz team. Monday’s win over the Pacers was a nice reminder of what he can be. Once his minutes nearly double and he gets his latest set of rust shaken off, I have little doubt that he’ll once again be the prolific threat he’s long been known to be.
And that just makes the Jazz’s latest success all the more exciting as their ceiling will rise even more dramatically.