Tag: Mike Conley

NBA fans ripped Dennis Schröder for taking Mike Conley’s garbage-time 3 way too personally

Imagine getting mad at Mike Conley, one of the nicest people in the NBA.

The NBA does not have unwritten rules. By definition, the rules technically don’t even exist — they’re all vibes, all standards players think should be upheld, most often made up with no consistency in their interpretation.

No one passed along this memo to the Brooklyn Nets’ Dennis Schröder.

With the Minnesota Timberwolves clocking the Nets in a blowout win on Saturday night, Schröder fully expected Minnesota to turtle with a late 12-point lead and just run the clock. When Minnesota’s Mike Conley took and drained a garbage-time 3-point shot instead, Schröder charged the point guard, taking exception to him not interpreting competition the way he does.

What resulted was one of the sillier “hold me back” scuffles of this entire NBA season:

Conley did not mean to embarrass the Nets by taking another shot with the win already secure. He was just playing until the final whistle. There is nothing wrong with Conley’s approach in this last sequence. Schröder is the player who should be reflecting. He’s the one who thought Minnesota should stop playing because they already won. He’s the one who was evidently ready to go just home instead of seeing all 48 minutes finally tick off the clock. He’s the one who unnecessarily charged Conley for breaking the “unwritten rules,” as interpreted by him.

For what it’s worth, Conley — who has never sustained a technical foul in his entire extended NBA career — explained that he was just making a simple basketball play. He didn’t mean anything more with his late shot.

Again, Conley was just competing until the game was actually over.

NBA fans were less amused with Schröder’s antics over an anodyne 3-point shot attempt.

The remaining active NBA players from each draft class between 2003 and 2010

It is truly remarkable that LeBron is still playing as well as he does.

With each passing season, more and more players in the previous generation of the NBA are graduating into retirement.

Some of the most recognizable and dominant players of a beloved era (e.g. Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, etc.) have recently ended their professional playing careers.

As the league begins to look increasingly different every year, we decided to look at which players drafted before 2011 are still active in the league. There are only 30 players who fit those qualifications and only 19 have started more than one game this season.

Here is a look at each NBA draft class and who remains active years later.

All data is provided via Stathead and is accurate as of publishing.

Timberwolves’ Mike Conley singles out rising Sixers star Tyrese Maxey

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley gave a lot of love and respect to rising Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have benefited from the meteoric rise of young Tyrese Maxey. In his fourth season in the league, Maxey has taken over the starting point guard job on a contender, and his production has been fantastic.

He’s averaging 25.8 points and 6.7 assists while shooting 46% from the floor and 39.9% from deep. He is on pace to be a surefire All-Star and a potential All-NBA member at the end of the season.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley has had a long and successful career. In his 17th season, Conely has been named an All-Star once, and he has had success everywhere he’s been. He knows what he’s talking about when discussing Maxey.

“I’ve been a big fan of his,” Conley said of Maxey. “The way that he approaches the game, coming in as a rookie, kind of letting the game develop, not rushing it too much.”

Maxey plays with such joy and a certain ease on the floor. He attracts praise from the great point guards who have played before him. Conley understands that when he watches Maxey out on the floor.

“He plays with ease,” Conley added. “Nothing’s too stressful with him. The city here loves him, the team loves him. He seems like a great guy and he plays with a lot of force and passion. He’s my kind of point guard. I love watching him play and I love to play against him and compete against him.”

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NBA fans are upset at Chris Paul after this dirty play that could have injured Mike Conley

This was NOT a good look for CP3.

The Timberwolves and Warriors featured a veteran point guard matchup between Minnesota’s Mike Conley and Golden State’s Chris Paul.

During the game, while diving on the floor for a loose ball after Kevon Looney and Karl-Anthony Towns became entangled, Paul attempted an ambitious hustle play.

But as he went for the ball, he seemingly lowered his shoulders into Conley’s knees.

While it’s unclear if this was deliberate or not from CP3, the guard likely could have maintained possession of the ball without making contact with Conley.

Fortunately, the Timberwolves guard was not injured on the possession. But folks within the organization were reportedly “very unhappy” about this in the locker room after the game.

But for some reason, the foul was actually called on Conley — and not Paul. This was a strange decision by the officials and one that many basketball fans did not agree with:

Hog track & field legend Conley adds another Hall of Fame nod

Conley remains the highest-scoring male field-eventer in the history of the NCAA Championships, totaling 62 points throughout his collegiate career.

Arkansas track & field legend Mike Conley added yet another accolade to his already extensive list of athletic accomplishments Friday night, as he was inducted into the Collegiate Track & Field and Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame.

Four decades after his illustrious Razorback career ended, the 60-year-old Conley is still regarded as one of the most dominate jumpers in the sport’s history. He remains the highest-scoring male field-eventer in the history of the NCAA Championships, totaling 62 points throughout his collegiate career.

He becomes the second Hog to be inducted in the Hall of Fame, joining Erick Walder, the long-standing collegiate record-holder in the long jump, who was part of the inaugural induction class in 2022.

Conley first made a name for himself at the national level when he won his first NCAA title, as a sophomore in 1983, winning the indoor triple jump. Throughout his junior and senior seasons, Conley captured eight more titles.

In 1984, he made history by becoming the first athlete to sweep all four single-year horizontal jump titles at the NCAA Championships, winning the long jump and triple jump titles at NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor meets. He repeated the double-double feat in 1985, while also finishing second in the 200m and taking part in Arkansas’ sixth-place finish in the 4x100m relay.

While still in college, Conley claimed the bronze medal in the long jump at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. Then in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he won the silver medal for the United States in the triple jump.

Conley also played a significant role in team national championships by the Razorbacks. With a cross country national team title in the fall of 1984, Arkansas achieved its first NCAA Triple Crown with the pair of 1985 track and field titles.

The 2023 induction ceremony, held in Eugene, Ore., also included Michael Carter (SMU), Edwin Moses (Morehouse), Renaldo Nehemiah (Maryland), Dave Wottle (Bowling Green), Dyrol Burleson (Oregon), Joetta Clark Diggs (Tennessee), Sheila Hudson (California), Holli Hyche (Indiana State), Sonia O’Sullivan (Villanova), Julie Shea Sutton (NC State), Seilala (Sua) Zumbado (UCLA), John Thomas (Boston Univ.), and Wyomia Tyus (Tennessee State).

7 targets (Fred VanVleet!) who can replace Chris Paul as the Suns look for their new point guard

Here is why some of these options do (and do not!) make sense.

The uncomfortable truth: Chris Paul may be over as a serviceable guard who can provide positive value on the court for a contender.

After he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, Paul helped turn the organization into one of the best teams in the league. But he is averaging a career-low 13.9 points per game and he has struggled to stay healthy enough to remain on the floor for prolonged periods.

As such, according to league insider Marc Stein, the “word is” that this has caused the Suns to “start assessing” what their future looks like once he is no longer their point guard.

With that in mind, here are seven of the potential trade targets that Phoenix may pursue at the deadline as they consider long-term replacements for CP3.

Razorback Track and Field legend headed to the Collegiate Hall of Fame

Mike Conley was announced as one of 14 members of the 2023 Collegiate Hall of Fame.

Another ray of light shines from Arkansas Track and Field program.

The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced that Razorback legend Mike Conley will be inducted into the Collegiate Hall of Fame.

Conley joins Erik Walder as the only two Razorbacks in the Collegiate Hall of Fame. Walder was apar of the 2022 class.

The long jumper won nine NCAA titles and earned 17 All-American honors. In 1984 and 1985, he swept the indoor and outdoor NCAA titles, all eight titles in the long jump and triple jump.

He set the indoor triple jump collegiate record of 57-1 to win the 1985 U.S. Indoor title. The record stood until another Razorback, Jaydon Hibbert, broke it to win the 2022 NCAA Indoor title with a mark of 57-6.5 (17.54).

Conley was an Olympic medalist during his time at Arkansas. He won silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics after his junior season. He followed that with a Triple jump gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

He wasn’t just a great jumper, he also helped the Razorbacks on the track as a member of the 4×100 team. In addition, he was instrumental in Arkansas winning its first outdoor NCAA title in 1985.

Conley was inducted into the USATF Hall of Fame in 2004. A former World indoor record holder, Conley remains the American indoor record holder with a mark of 58-3.25 (17.76) from 1987.

The induction ceremony will be held in Eugene, Oregon, on September 14, before the 2023 Diamond League Final, the Prefontaine Classic, held September 16-17 in Eugene.

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Charles Barkley purposely didn’t praise Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and didn’t appreciate skepticism

“I stopped, didn’t I!?”

The Minnesota Timberwolves season might already be on the line, and their starting big men probably won’t rescue them.

During the Denver Nuggets’ 122-113 win in Game 2 to take a 2-0 series lead, what Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert brought to the table was questioned by Charles Barkley. Mind you: the NBA on TNT never said their names himself.

As Denver cruised to a 64-49 halftime lead, Kenny Smith started to praise the talent Minnesota had at its disposal, especially at the 4 and 5 positions. In his rebuttal, Barkley completely disagreed with Smith. He named Mike Conley (who is “102 years old”) and Anthony Edwards as players he likes but purposely left out Towns and Gobert.

When Smith questioned this excluding opinion, Barkley had a perfect reaction that essentially amounted to “Did I stutter?”

It’s worth noting that after this discussion, the Timberwolves would get it together and make the Nuggets sweat out the win in the second half. However, it probably had a lot less to do with Towns and a measly 10 points and 12 boards and Gobert being routinely abused by Nikola Jokic in the post.

It was Edwards, the true face of the franchise, dropping 41 points that brought Minnesota back first and foremost. Just like Barkley alluded to while excluding players holding the Timberwolves back.

1 sick Mike Conley pass proved precisely why the Timberwolves traded D’Angelo Russell

They needed someone to maximize the output from Rudy Gobert.

It was shocking when the Timberwolves traded D’Angelo Russell, but it made sense for the front office to target Mike Conley.

Russell was only 26 years old when Minnesota traded him for Conley — a 35-year-old NBA veteran — and shooting a career-high 39.1 percent on 3-pointers before the trade. But Russell was never a natural fit as the point guard to maximize the output from big man Rudy Gobert.

Considering how much the Timberwolves sacrificed in order to land the three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Minnesota had to find a more ideal fit for Gobert.

Conley showed exactly why he is that guy with a mesmerizing assist to Gobert during a crucial victory over the Knicks on Monday:

Conley had a finger roll ready to go for a score, but at the last second, he converted it into a touch pass and Gobert finished it off at the rim.

Russell, meanwhile, is playing well for the Lakers. But he wasn’t the right fit.

The reality of the situation is that Conley has significantly better chemistry with Gobert than Russell ever did. Here is more from Timberwolves’ insider  Jon Krawczynski (via SI.com):

“There was this perception that D’Angelo Russell was very frustrated with Gobert and did not seem as open to working with him or trying to find a happy medium as maybe some of the other players were, trying to make what has so far been a disappointing trade, try to find a way to make it work.”

Russell, reportedly privately, and also publicly, criticized Gobert. He had subtle shade directed at the big man for fumbling passes, to which the big man said that he tried to put himself in the right situation for the guard as often as possible.

The damage was likely already done, though. Using data from PBPStats and NBA.com, we found which of his floor general teammates were most likely to check for the three-time All-Star on the offensive side of the floor.

Among those who have shared the court with Gobert for at least 500 minutes, here are the teammates who have passed to and assisted the big man the most often per 36 minutes during his NBA career.

The results suggest that Conley is the player who has gotten Gobert the most involved in the offense, getting more from the big man than Russell ever did:

PASSER TO GOBERT AST/36 PASSES/36
Mike Conley* 2.1 11.0
Kyle Anderson 2.0 7.8
Ricky Rubio 1.9 17.3
Joe Ingles 1.8 10.2
Boris Diaw 1.7 6.1
D’Angelo Russell* 1.6 10.6
Dante Exum 1.3 14.3
George Hill 1.3 17.5
Donovan Mitchell 1.1 6.4

It doesn’t take more than a second to look at that chart and see how much involved Gobert gets when Conley is running the offense compared to when Russell ran the show. But the good news is that it also translates to winning.

The Timberwolves scored 111.5 points per 100 possessions and they were outscored by 0.5 points per 100 when Gobert and Russell shared the court, per PBPStats. They are scoring 118.8 with Gobert and Conley, however, and outscoring opponents by 4.6 points per 100 during these minutes.

Conley is feeding Gobert in the paint, and as the big man is getting the ball near the basket, he is drawing contact more often. Gobert attempted 7.2 free throw attempts per 100 with Russell as his floor general but 9.0 FTA per 100 with Conley.

This is helping his overall productivity, too, as he averaged 21.9 points per 100 alongside Russell and is scoring 23.7 points per 100 with Conley.

But as with everything with Gobert on the offensive end of the floor, this trend is most noticeable when he is dunking the basketball.

According to Stathead, we can gather that Gobert averaged 2.89 dunks during the 47 games he played for the Timberwolves before Russell was traded. He has since averaged 3.54 dunks in the 13 games with Conley.

Meanwhile, via NBA.com, he attempted 1.32 alley-oops before the trade and has averaged 1.46 alley-oops since he reunited with his former Utah running mate. For comparison, that is nearly exactly as many alley-oop attempts as he averaged (1.45) over the course of his final four seasons with the Jazz.

This might not be the season that Minnesota wanted, but at least Conley brings Gobert closer to his normal output than Russell ever did.

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Lakers chose D’Angelo Russell over Mike Conley in Russell Westbrook trade

When trading Russell Westbrook in February, the Lakers had the choice of getting Mike Conley or D’Angelo Russell, and they chose right.

Shortly after they traded for Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers realized experimenting with him simply wouldn’t work well.

They started to explore trading him last winter, but the pickings were slim as far as potential trades that would bring back some type of value, as well as teams that were even willing to entertain such a trade.

One of those teams was the Utah Jazz, and there were reports going back several months that L.A. was engaging them on a possible Westbrook deal.

Once the outline of a deal started to come together, it had the opportunity to acquire veteran point guard Mike Conley in return, but according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, the Lakers opted for 26-year-old D’Angelo Russell instead because of his youth.

Via HoopsHype:

“When the Lakers made that deal, part of it was getting off Russ’ contract and getting out of that situation, but they could’ve potentially had Mike Conley in that deal,” Buha told Michael Scotto. “They looked at D’Angelo Russell as someone who could be their point guard of the future and potentially that lead ball handler and third-star type of guy that could fit around Anthony Davis and LeBron.”

Conley is 35 years old, and his best days are clearly behind him. In addition, a player his age wouldn’t have fit with the Lakers’ fast-breaking style of offense.

Russell, on the other hand, has done very well in his brief time in L.A. His ability to attack in transition, set up teammates and strike from 3-point range have made him a nice fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Buha also noted that the Lakers have “very strong interest” in signing Russell to a new contract and that he believes the feeling is “mutual on both sides.”

The point guard will be a free agent this summer.

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