Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni gave the team today off. Not a bad place to spend a little free time, eh? Actually, this is the team’s first day without a practice since training camp began more than a week ago. The players had gone through grueling two-a-days and a long flight to Spain so they were due for some time off.

Knowing that no practice was scheduled for Sunday, Spaniard Pau Gasol took his teammates out Saturday night for dinner and a little partying. Needless to say, what happens in Malaga apparently stays in Malaga. It’s obvious, though, that the players-only group had a great time judging by the body language once they made it back to the hotel.

There is something to be said for bonding during training camp. It promotes unity and trust on and off the court.

Video Postcard
Hard to say what the players did Sunday with time to themselves. Mike Miller sounded as though he was looking for Gasol to be sort of a tour guide.

Sneak preview
Gasol’s image can be found in a lot of commercial advertising around Spain. For instance, this poster is in the window of a local bank.

Odds and Ends

* In addition to having two laptops to use in a Grizzlies-only conference room in the hotel, the league recently installed Sony PlayStation 3 stations for the players.

* Midtown residents Keith and Cary Brown are in Spain with the Grizzlies after winning a season-ticket holders lottery following their renewal. Read Monday’s Commercial Appeal to find out about the Browns and their all-expense paid trip.

* Crime isn’t exclusive to Memphis as many would have you believe. Someone stole the large, inflatable basketball that the NBA placed in the middle of a busy downtown street to promote Europe Live’s Grizzlies-Unicaja game.

* Miami’s Dwyane Wade topped a list of the most popular NBA jerseys in Europe. Denver’s Allen Iverson ranked second.
Among the top eight were four European players, including Gasol at No. 7. San Antonio’s Tony Parker (No. 3) and Phoenix’s Boris Diaw (No. 6) ranked ahead of Gasol.
Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani ranked eighth.
The list also included L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (No. 4), Cleveland’s LeBron James (No. 5), Denver’s Carmelo Anthony (No. 9) and Houston’s Tracy McGrady (No. 10).
Sales of NBA merchandise in Europe increased 40 percent from last season, with international sales accounting for 25 percent of the league’s overall global merchandise business.

Quotable

“Basketball aside, no country has improved more in all facets of life since (1990 when he began scouting Europe). It was a high-level country to begin with but it’s blossomed into a power in every since of the word.” -– Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace on Spain’s overall emergence.