zyzz
Well-Known Member
Here's a bit of Conley's interview with Sam Amick in The Athletic. It's just the Conley portion which I think doesn't break the rules.
Mike Conley knew the move to Utah would be an adjustment.
You don’t work for 12 years in the same city, with those same Memphis fans who adore you and all those ‘Grit and Grind’ memories, only to replicate that kind of interpersonal magic upon arrival. But the basketball part, the role he was expected to play as Donovan Mitchell’s wise and productive mentor in their upgraded backcourt on a would-be title contender, was supposed to come easy after the June trade that brought him to town.
Or so he thought.
Then came his disastrous season-opener against Oklahoma City, with the 32-year-old missing 16 of 17 shots while his teammates somehow pulled out the win without him. The second game wasn’t much better – a three-of-11 outing against the Lakers in which his struggles surely contributed to the 95-86 loss. Three nights later in Phoenix, he missed all seven of his shots in a one-point win over the Suns and finished with the kind of line he had experienced just once in the 791 regular season games that came before: One point and one assist in 20 minutes of painful action.
As Conley and I discussed recently, he was officially shook.
“Man, it was a lonely situation,” Conley said. “I was so excited to join this team, and I think everybody was excited about everything. And we were still winning and doing all these things, but I’m like, ‘I know I’m way better than what’s happening,’ and it just felt like the harder I tried the worse I got. I just kept thinking, ‘This is not me. This is not me. I don’t want the Jazz nation to think this is me.’ I was constantly fighting that – every day. And my teammates were supporting me through it all.
“I had a game the other night (against the Clippers on Oct. 30, where he had 29 points on 11 of 17 shooting with five assists) where I let it go and got past it and now I’m able to just feel my way through it again and I feel like myself. Those first four games or so, it was just something different every game.”
These wrinkles haven’t been ironed out just yet – not even close. One more bucket in that 102-101 loss to the Kings on Friday would have helped them avoid the upset (he was five of 13 from the field with 19 points, four rebounds, four assists and four turnovers). A few more against the Clippers on Sunday would have come in handy too (they fell 105-94 as Conley missed eight of 10 and finished with eight points, one assist, one rebound and five turnovers).
But little by little, Conley – who was one of seven players to average at least 20 points, six assists while playing in at least 70 games last season – is starting to feel like himself again. And that, as he explained to The Athletic, is precisely the kind of thing that could help the Jazz take that proverbial next step.
You had such a comfort level with those dudes (in Memphis) for so long, and now you’re learning here. What has that been like?
Oh yeah, it’s kind of a little bit out of my routine because I’ve had to watch more film on us than I can on the other teams because I’m still learning. I’m still used to throwing pocket passes (to former Grizzlies big man and best friend Marc Gasol, who’s now with the Raptors), and getting the ball out of my hands and cutting and doing all these things. I’ve got a big guy now (in Rudy Gobert) who can go get it. I can throw pocket passes, but it’s a little different. We’ve got lob threats and shooters around. You’re just trying to figure out where guys like to come off screens, and which hand, and then just remembering the terminology. We’ve got so many terms.
That’s true, man. It’s probably like learning a whole new language?
It is, but it’s learning a whole new language where he’ll say something like a word or a city or whatever…
Give me an example…
(Jazz coach Quin Snyder will say) ‘Valencia,’ or something like that….And it’ll take me a second, like, ‘Oh…’ and it’s a split second or whatever, but then you’re like, ‘Ok, that’s a dribble hand-off,’ – stuff that I know but the terms are just different. It’s not second nature yet, but it’s coming. But he’ll call out all those names, and for Don (Mitchell) and Rudy they’ll go, ‘Ok…’ and they go right to it, (whereas) I’ll be like, ‘Alright, I’ve got it. I’ve got it.’
But yeah, that split second is huge. So that part is the learning curve for me, and they’re helping a lot. I’m asking questions, and like I said having to watch a lot of us (on film) and continue to try to develop that as we go and then work my way to be able to look at everything.
When you’re talking 12 years in Memphis, that’s a huge chunk of your life.
It was a big part.
You know the Grizzlies language. You’re a fan favorite. It’s all those things that are different.
All those things, I’m trying to redo it. People don’t know me. My whole thing was, I’m going to come in and I’m going to try to show you people who I am. And that’s me playing hard, playing defense, or whatever it is. But I wasn’t doing that. So for me, I felt like I was failing the team, failing the city, and I kind of held that burden. But talking to the team and the players, everyone was like, ‘Man, you’re worrying about it too much. You’re carrying a burden you don’t need to be carrying.’
It has to be weird to feel like a young player again when you’ve been doing it this long.
It was like starting all over for me. When you’re with somebody for so long and – like you said – it’s a completely different type of game. Playing with Marc and these guys is completely different than with Z-Bo (former Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph). So now it’s like re-learning, being ok with making mistakes and understanding that you’re making your way through it. But it’s all new. I think it’s just going to get better and better as it goes.
Did your family get settled with you there yet?
That was the other thing. We didn’t move into our house until – we’ve got two (boys), three and one – and they moved into our house the day before the first game. …They just got there on Oct. 23, first game of the year basically. I was all out of (whack) because I’m a really routine type of guy. And we finally got everything straightened out, but we didn’t have – one night we’re sleeping in the hotel, and the next night we’re sleeping at home. I’m like, ‘I’ve got to get this together.’
