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Mike Conley Resurgence

fishonjazz said:
You could argue that it wasnt a lifetime achievement award (i think it was) but iirc he was a replacement pick. He made the team because someone else was hurt or something i thought. I could be wrong though.


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No that is correct. That is how he got in.

View: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2934747-jazz-pg-mike-conley-reportedly-invited-to-2021-nba-all-star-game#:~:text=Utah%20Jazz-,Mike%20Conley%20Named%20Devin%20Booker's%20Injury,2021%20NBA%20All%2DStar%20Game&text=Utah%20Jazz%20point%20guard%20Mike,the%20NBA%20announced%20on%20Friday.&text=Booker%20will%20miss%20the%20All,to%20a%20left%20knee%20sprain
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Commissioner Adam Silver chose Conley as Booker's replacement with rules stipulating a substitute must be selected from the same conference as the injured player.
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There were several players in the mix for this spot, and Conley arguably had middle of the road stats by comparison, but the Jazz were just killing it and Conley was having a bounce-back season. Plus he is just a nice guy so no one would poo poo the choice by Silver. But we have to be real and understand this was way more of a lifetime achievement award than a true all-star season. Not many all-stars with stat lines like that -

Conley, 33, is averaging 16.1 points, 5.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 29 games this season as he continues to bounce back from a dismal 2019-20 campaign.
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Remember, Booker, who was having a career year, did not get selected originally and was only selected as a replacement for AD. Then Booker got injured, so Conley was a replacement for a replacement.

Dejounte Murray was having a career year that year with a stat line of 19 pts, 8 reb, and 9 assist, but his team wasn't winning. LaMelo ball as well, was putting up 20 pts, 7 rebs, 8 assists and they were in the playoff hunt due to his play. SGA was also having a career year, but on a bad team.

So in no way can you really say that Conley beat out other guys because he was just better. IMO Ball was having a stellar year and pushing his team toward the playoffs and probably should have been picked, but give his age, and the fact that often, if you don't get voted in, the NBA wants to see you pay your dues before receiving accolades like that, they picked the elder statesman Conley both as a feel-good story for the best citizen in the NBA and the guy that would appreciate it most, and because the Jazz were surging and appeared dominant, and Conley was having one of the best years of his career, of that there was no doubt. But one of the best years of his career was still well short of the stats of other top wings/guards also in the running. It was a lifetime achievement award, albeit well-deserved, but still was not really about him being the best guard at the spot at the time.
 
fishonjazz said:
Also, all stars arent chosen based off advanced stats.


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Almost never in fact. Mostly it is fan favorite, best or at least impact or leadership players on the best teams, and if they have paid their dues. Lots of young guys on winning teams with good advanced stats get passed over. Look at DM, who didn't get selected despite his stellar play in his early years and our resulting success, because of the "pay your dues" factor, among other things, like Utah not being a prime audience draw. Many more things go into this selection beyond stats, advanced or otherwise. It is NOT a list of just the best players.


Case in point, at age 40 Dirk Nowitzki was chosen for the all-star game in a season he was averaging 7 pts and 3 boards on 35% shooting.
 
Reserves are picked by coaches (probably coaches assistants) and I would assume that they look at advanced stats as part of their assessment.

In Conley's case he was an injury reserve, which is picked by the commissioner. I have not idea what criteria the commissioner is looking at, but lifetime achievement seems very possible.

Having a winning record has always been an extremely important criteria for All Star selections. I'm not sure it's always fair since strength of schedule can make a big difference, especially as early as the voting gets started.
 
SoberasHotRod said:
Reserves are picked by coaches (probably coaches assistants) and I would assume that they look at advanced stats as part of their assessment.

In Conley's case he was an injury reserve, which is picked by the commissioner. I have not idea what criteria the commissioner is looking at, but lifetime achievement seems very possible.

Having a winning record has always been an extremely important criteria for All Star selections. I'm not sure it's always fair since strength of schedule can make a big difference, especially as early as the voting gets started.
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I’m cool with giving the nod to the player on the winning team vs losing team with slightly better stats.
 
Conley's play has been outstanding. That being said, he played lots better last year than folks gave him credit for and it seemed pretty clear that he had lots left in the tank. Hope he stays healthy.
Jingled said:
Hardy has been fantastic no doubt, but I think Quin is getting some unfair blame. Yes, Mike struggled his first year in Quins system, but the next 3 years he played terrific in the system, he even made his only all-star game two years ago under Quin. Quin coached the Jazz to the best record in the league two years ago, the #1 offense in the league last year and #2 the year before, we also had the #1defense and #2 defense in the league under Quin during the 17-18 and 18-19 seasons.

Some of the criticism is fair, lack of flexibility with his lineups and rotations, and lack of adjustments among other things, but acting like Quin was a bad coach or like he didn't get the best out of his players is just silly and not true.
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Very well said. Mike played well last year and IMO it was clear there was plenty left in the tank. The truth is, he and Donovan didn't fit well together. The problem was greatly amplified when an inexperienced owner turned the franchise over to a young player who was not ready for it. Quin didn't lose the locker room, Ryan gave it to someone else and the problems translated to what went on between the lines. I give Ainge credit for righting the mistake Ryan created.
 
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