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Mike Conley: So Underrated He’s Overrated

By Hutchinson Fann

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The whispers started a few years ago.

It was 2013, and Mike Conley had just averaged 14.6 points and 6.1 assists per game for the Grizzlies.

Then they grew louder. Bleacher Report published an article calling Conley the “most underrated point guard in the NBA,” and Conley’s hype continued to grow.

Soon he was the NBA’s “underrated” poster boy, the player that every basketball analyst, every “in-the-know” basketball fan could call underrated and be applauded for insightfulness. 2014 ended with Conley averaging 17.2 points per game, and the whispers turned to shouts. NBC Sports argued that Conley “should have been an All-Star,” but his “low profile” kept him from competing with the other Western Conference guards.

Underrated. Underrated. The tags kept piling up.

And in today’s Warriors-Grizzlies game, much of the television focus was on Conley as he sat on the bench with a swollen eye. “They don’t have a chance without Conley,” sighed Jeff Van Gundy, one of the commentators, and the other commentators agreed. Then the camera panned off the game, again, and landed on Conley sitting in his suit, silently watching the game.

We watched the game for a bit. Then it was back to Conley. The Grizzlies’ deficit grew. We saw Conley.

If only he were playing.

May 3, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11, left) talks to forward Zach Randolph (50, right) during the second quarter in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies 101-86. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The “underrated” tag has followed him for years now, and with the continued use of “underrated” comes mystery, a feeling of untapped potential. For if Conley is still underrated, still not considered as good as he really is, then it should be inevitable that he will smash his way out of the “underrated” label and announce to the NBA who he really is, or who many writers consider him to be — a bona fide star and serious All-Star candidate.

But, for me, Conley has been “underrated” for so long that he has become overrated; fans and media alike have gotten used to hearing of his “low-profile” talent for so long that they have internalized it and kept building up his hype. And when it becomes general consensus that someone is “underrated,” then, ironically, perhaps the opposite becomes true.

Van Gundy said that the Grizzlies stood no chance without Conley against the Warriors. And much of the talk coming into the series was about Conley’s health. A Warriors sweep or Warriors in five were the common predictions if Conley wasn’t playing; with him, the series was predicted to stretch to six, or possibly even seven, games.

Certainly Conley means a lot to this Grizzlies team; he is certainly one of their best players and their starting point guard. But after watching Game 1, how much difference would he really make against the Warriors?

Conley’s defense is generally good, but the Warriors are not a good matchup for him. Tony Allen was ferocious on both ends of the court, and Memphis’s best solution to stopping Stephen Curry was to defend him with the strong, aggressive Allen. Nick Calathes, starting in place of Conley, did not score, but did play some solid defense, defending both Curry and Thompson.

May 3, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles the basketball against Memphis Grizzlies guard Nick Calathes (12) during the third quarter in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies 101-86. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Calathes, at 6’6, has the size to defend Klay Thompson, one of the league’s best guards scoring off the post-up; Conley, at 6’1, was brilliant against Damian Lillard last series but could only really guard Curry in this one. And when 6’7 Shaun Livingston, another post-up guard, comes in for Curry, would Conley defend him? Conley is a great point guard defender — just ask Lillard — but the Warriors’ size and frequent ball movement would frequently leave him in mismatches.

Allen and Calathes worked well as a tandem; Conley’s return would force Allen almost exclusively onto Thompson, further opening the door for likely the league’s best scoring point guard.

Offensively, Conley’s shooting and playmaking would be superior to the 0-for-4 effort put forth by Calathes, but he would be forced to do the majority of his work from the perimeter. The long arms of Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Shaun Livingston on the floor, not to mention the shot-blocking of Andrew Bogut, would swallow up his drives into the lane.

When the teams played in December, Conley scored 17 points on 18 shots while Bogut sat out with an injury. Conley didn’t make a single three-pointer in that game, and perhaps he didn’t have to. But with Bogut back and patrolling the middle, he will have to bomb from long-range. And the Warriors perimeter defenders are among the best the league.

Dec 7, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley (11) dribbles the ball around Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson (11) during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Conley is no elite offensive player; Memphis’s offensive woes in Game 1 go further than simply his absence. This year, he has shot 44.6% from the field, and averaged only five assists per game. Talk that the outcome would have been significantly different if he had played is misguided.

No doubt Conley is a solid player, but as he sat on the bench today and was the frequent target of the camera-man, it seems as though his hype had reached a whole new level. The blowout needed a storyline, and “Short Handed Grizzlies Fall on The Road” is more enticing than “Warriors Are Simply a Lot Better Than Grizzlies.”

Maybe that’s all it was.

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But back to Conley: the tag of “underrated” suggests that we haven’t seen all that we need to see from Conley to call him a star. Curry and Thompson were both once called underrated; both have shed the tag. Conley, on the other hand, has been shouldering it for years. There’s a reason for that, a reason that all of his “underrated” fans have been ignoring: he has never truly broken out in a big game.

He will likely be back for Game 3, and his team will need him. If he comes back, this series will make or break his legacy. Is he, as many believe, a reluctant star, a super talented but quiet player primed to explode and finally shed his tag? Or is he, as I believe, overhyped?

But one thing’s for certain: he can’t stay “underrated” forever.

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