Grizzlies work out Mike Conley, Jr. Thursday
The Grizzlies were impressed with Mike Conley, Jr.'s confidence during Thursday's workout.
grizzlies.com
MEMPHIS, June 14, 2007 — The Grizzlies continued their pre-draft workouts Thursday morning by bringing in Ohio State point guard Mike Conley, Jr., who helped lead the Buckeyes to the national championship game in April as a freshman.
Like Joakim Noah yesterday, Conley worked out by himself for Grizzlies brass. Afterwards, Director of Player Personnel Tony Barone, Sr. dismissed any notion that Conley may need time to adjust to the pro game after just one year of college.
“He’s ready for the NBA. He’s ready to come in and play right away. Absolutely,” said Barone. “He’s the quintessential point guard…He’s got every single characteristic that you’re looking for in a point guard. He’s cerebral in terms of his approach, he really sees the floor, he has outstanding quickness, he’s an excellent ball-handler, he can knock down shots and he really has the ability to read the defense.”
While Conley put up solid numbers in his freshman year, averaging 11.3 points on 51.8% shooting along with 6.1 assists per game, what was more impressive was the fact that he was a freshman point guard leading his team to the title game (along with a little help from a guy named Greg Oden). That experience gave Conley the confidence to declare for the draft.
“I’m a winner. I know how to win games. I’m a leader on the court and off the court,” he said. Conley later added, “I was faced with a lot of challenges in college. As a freshman they said I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things, like I wouldn’t be able to lead a group of seniors, and I try to prove people wrong a lot.”
One word Barone brought up in discussing Conley was poise. On the court, he showed that poise in the second round of the NCAA Tournament when he scored 11 points in overtime with Oden on the bench after fouling out to cap a come-from-behind victory over Xavier. But Barone said he was also impressed with Conley’s poise at dinner the night before.
“When you sit down at the dinner, it’s kind of an intimidating issue. We have a new coach (Marc Iavaroni) who has been extremely successful in his background. A Hall of Famer, The Logo (Jerry West) is there, it’s intimidating, there’s no question about that. So you find out about poise right away,” said Barone. “He exhibited a tremendous amount of confidence in himself in terms of talking, so you do learn a lot about them in that environment.”
The Grizzlies will continue to hold workouts daily for the remainder of the week. Check grizzlies.com daily for further updates.
Watch NBA.com video of Mike Conley, Jr.
MIKE CONLEY, JR. OHIO STATE
| Position: Guard Class: Freshman Ht: 6-1 Wt: 180 DOB: 10/11/87 | ||||||||||||
| SEASON AVERAGES | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEASON | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | TO | A/T | STL | BLK | PF | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| 2006-2007 | 31.6 | 11.3 | 3.4 | 6.1 | 2.2 | 2.77 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 0.518 | 0.694 | 0.304 |
Quick Facts: Named First-Team All-Big Ten by the media and Second-Team All-Big Ten by the coaches. Named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. Started all 39 games and finished third on team in scoring (11.3 ppg) and first in assists (6.1 apg) and steals (2.2 spg). Shot 52 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range. Scored in double figures 21 times and had a career-high 23 points in a win over Michigan. Had 10 or more assists six times, five steals three times and a career-high eight rebounds in a win against Cincinnati. Averaged 16.0 points, 4.8 assists, 2.0 and 5.0 rebounds in six NCAA Tournament games. Finished with 20 points, six assists and four steals in the NCAA Championship game against Florida. Son of Rene and Mike Conley Sr., a 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist in the triple jump and silver medalist in 1984. |
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