Mike Conley is the old man who raises the sea

It seems that with a life, but on the media day, on September 30, Chris Finch spoke about how he can repair the clutch offense in Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Sometimes we could move away from what we know is truly, indeed,” he said, “and that is Mike Conley. “

Five months later, Finch is still conducting Conley during the clutch. The wolves travel with a five -game winning series, while fighting again in the playoff race. However, Conley regressed earlier this season, and Finch was beating him briefly. Conley remains crucial for Minnesota chances in Playoff, whether they continue to close the games.

Conley’s statistics indicate a decrease in his career, which should be expected at 37. 8.3 points per match are the smallest in his 17 -year -old career. Its 38.9% percentage on the ground is the second percentage of its career. General’s 4.5 assistants decreased to the lowest average of 2019-20.

As a result, Conley’s minutes decreased to a 24.8 low career. They are probably the smallest minutes on the match of his life. He recorded an average of 31.6 minutes in his only year at Ohio State. It is difficult to find reliable high school statistics for him, but most of Conley’s quality players usually play 28 minutes or more, the games have only 32 minutes.

Advanced statistics do not do any favors. His 56.6% true filming are the second most total of 2019-20, dragged by his 40.4% shootings from three. Its 24.8% assistance percentage is the second smallest in 2009-10, and its 14.4% use rating is the smallest in its career. This led to a decrease in his player’s efficiency rating to 13.4, the smallest of his Rookie year.

Over board, Conley’s statistics indicate a crisis. So why does a crucial player start in rotation? To answer that, I remembered a quote from December from Divincenzo about his impressions about Conley.

“Has a very similar approach to Jrue Holiday“Said Divincenzo. “You know what you will receive every day … Great teammate, a great person and a great player. So when you have those qualities, it is very easy to come to work every day. “

There is Conley’s gift for the team. He is a great teammate. Even when he struggles, he still raises the floor of all the players around him. According to the NBA.com ON/OFF statistics, Minnesota’s offensive rating is 0.9 points better just by the fact that Conley on the yard.

Despite his age, wolves are only 0.4 more serious defensive points with Conley on the ground. Therefore, Conley’s presence is only an increase in one half per 100 goods. That seems weak but are in the sixth place on the biggest wolves before Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle.

Conley leads by winning by encouraging ball movement. Even if his assistance numbers are smaller this season, the passage is still its superpower. The wolves have a 61.2% assistance percentage when Conley is not on the floor. No other player has more influence on on-off statistics. When Conley rests, the Minnesota assistance percentage drops 2.7% lower than the average of its season and is 6.2% lower than when Conley is outside the floor.

Conley’s percentage may seem marginal. However, this is the equivalent of wolves obtaining with 6.2 other assistance in 100 possessions. Looking at Wolves’ players isolated in two people, it should not be surprising that each player had a positive net rating when he played with Conley, except Josh Minott and Jaylen Clark. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Rob Dillinghamand Joe Ingles Post the highest net ratings when playing with Conley.

Although the correlation may seem ambiguous, the movement of the ball and net ratings tend to influence each other. When players are involved in the crime and feel part of the system, they are often more involved and focused on the defensive end.

“Make sure everyone touches the ball or even try to get (they) lightly”, ” Jaden McDaniels He said after practice in December, “just to give them that energy to make them want to descend and play defense.”

Gobert shared the same feeling in the movement of the ball that leads to connectivity.

“I think it’s about feeling connected,” he said. “Whatever you do in life, when you feel connected, you have more chances to give the best. … When we are sometimes offensively disconnected, I think they are heading for defense. “

Conley plays major minutes, despite its statistical abandonment, because it is the connective tissue that brings together everything for wolves. His ball movement is motivating, and players play universally better with him. Although Conley’s game sank, the wolves still need it. Given that I press at the end of the season for sowing in the playoff, now they need it more than ever.