Mike Conley sometimes slaps Tony Allen to get his attention

This passage in Ian Thomsen’s fantastic look at Mike Conley for NBA.com tells a lot about how the Memphis Grizzlies operate:

“I’ll slap [Tony Allen] against the back of his head once in a while, because that is the only way to get his attention sometimes,” Conley said. “You’ll be talking to him and he’s looking right past you, so you just got to hit him upside the head. Then he’s listening to you again.”

Conley said this after acknowledging that Allen wished he’d be “nastier” as a leader and player. Allen’s response?

“Yeah,” conceded Allen with a shrug, “he’ll hit me upside my head.” He was grinning as he clapped his hands. “‘Snap out of it! Go onto the next play, we’ve got to make a run!’ He’ll tell me things like that, just keeping me engaged, and I think that’s big. That’s big.”

Let’s be honest: is anyone really surprised such tactics pay huge dividends for the Grizzlies?

Read the whole feature here. It’s worth it.