Oller Second Thoughts: Mike Conley Jr. deserves mention among Ohio State all-time greats
Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley Jr. unintentionally injured his coach Sunday during the NBA playoffs, but the former Ohio State one-and-doner is anything but a coach killer.
More like a job saver. Conley’s consistency over 17 seasons – 14.4 points and 5.7 assists in 31.6 minutes – means his coaches have never had to worry that a lack of production would reflect poorly on them. Not only that, but the 36-year-old is a low-maintenance pro. He was voted NBA teammate of the year in 2019 and owns the league record for most minutes played (more than 35,000 and counting) without a technical foul (Note: Conley received a technical in 2014 that was overturned by league officials the next day).
Of his ability to avoid getting “T'd” up, Conley has explained that refs are trying to do the right thing.
Related article: With Ohio State freshman Malaki Branham rising, Mike Conley recalls his rapid NBA climb
“They're trying to make the right calls, but if you put a lot of pressure on them as far as being in their face, it's embarrassing,” he said a few years ago. "They don't want to get yelled at a fourth, fifth time."
Conley is averaging 11.4 point and 5.9 assists in his second season with Minnesota after spending the previous five years in Utah and 12 before that in Memphis, which drafted him No. 4 overall in 2007.
Don’t expect Chris Finch front and center on the bench for the foreseeable future https://t.co/dzCQMP8ViJ
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) April 29, 2024
About Sunday, Conley was dribbling along the Minnesota bench when Phoenix guard Devin Booker fouled him by forcing him out of bounds. Conley collided with T-Wolves coach Chris Finch, who went down with a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee with 1:40 left in the first-round playoff game.
Finch is going to be just fine. It helped that Minnesota won 122-116 to complete a four-game sweep.
“He’s obviously in good spirits and so are the guys,” said Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, who took over for Finch as Minnesota closed out the win.
Mike Conley Jr's caeer
Conley’s career has been delightful to follow, beginning with his rise to stardom at Ohio State, where he sweetened Thad Matta’s tenure by bringing center Greg Oden along with him from Lawrence North High School outside of Indianapolis. Conley, Oden and Dayton’s Daequan Cook all signed with the Buckeyes after playing on the same AAU team, then led OSU to the 2007 NCAA Tournament title game against Florida before all getting drafted in the first round. Oden went No. 1 to Portland, Conley No. 4 to Memphis and Cook No. 21 to Philadelphia.
Conley ranks among the nicest pro athletes I’ve encountered, and it’s good to see him get one more shot at winning an NBA championship. The 2021 All-Star has appeared in 82 playoff games, averaging 15.6 points and 6.5 assists – higher than his regular-season averages – but his team’s have never reached the finals. The Timberwolves may not be favored to win it all, owning the fourth-best odds behind Boston, Denver and Oklahoma City, but their sweep of Phoenix portends promising possibilities.
Regardless of how far Minnesota advances, Conley belongs in the starting lineup for the best five NBA players to come out of Ohio State, joining John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas, Michael Redd and Clark Kellogg (Jim Jackson gets the nod for top sixth man).
Conley understands how being a pro athlete comes with high if not heavy responsibilities.
“It’s easy for us as professional athletes to go out and affect people’s lives in so many different ways,” he said in 2019 while reflecting on his time in Memphis. “We don’t even know how much we can touch people and change the direction of somebody’s future.”
Good guys don’t always finish last. Here’s hoping this one gets a ring.
Football coming to land of Bevo Francis
Basketball was king at the University of Rio Grande in the early 1950s when 6-foot-9 center Bevo Francis twice scored more than 100 points a game. But football is rejoining the royal court.
The school, which last fielded a football team in 1949, when it went by Rio Grande College, has revived the program to begin play this fall.
“Football is a cherished tradition in Ohio, and we believe the time is now to revive it here at Rio,” school president Ryan Smith said. “This initiative strengthens our bond with the southern Ohio community.”
Francis didn’t arrive at Rio until 1952. Otherwise he would have been one heck of a tight end. Instead, his senior season at Rio he averaged 48 points a game and scored a college-record 113 points against Hillsdale College, a mark that stood until 2012 when Grinnell’s Jack Taylor scored 138 against Grace Baptist Bible.
Listening in
“This has been entirely a Nike issue. At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.” – portion of a MLB Players Association memo sent to players explaining why team uniforms will abandon the “see-through” pants and return to larger lettering on the backs of jerseys next season.
Off-topic
The internet gets blamed for plenty of society’s ills, and rightfully so, but it has saved my bacon numerous times when it comes to fixing things. YouTube, specifically, has come to my rescue as I fumble with how to fix household appliances. The latest instance occurred when my wife’s gigantic Hobart mixer – she runs a bread-baking business – needed to be cleaned and re-greased. It took a few days and several redos, but that baby is now purring like a kitten.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mike Conley Jr. deserves spot among Ohio State basketball greats
