After taking Sunday to rest and recuperate, the Grizzlies returned to practice today with fresh legs and renewed spirit. Figure that Pau Gasol, Damon Stoudamire and Mike Miller will be named captains soon.

But the practice attitude clearly starts at the top with head coach Marc Iavaroni.



By the way, no longer are Grizzly practices merely about access for the accredited media. Under Iavaroni, practices actual reveal more than just the pathetic free throw shooting media members saw in the past.

Sure, the entire practice isn’t open. But the 30-90 minutes the media is allowed to see on any given day is beneficial, and worthy of attending. Hubie Brown, Mike Fratello, etc. were always lauded for their “teaching.”

“If you could only see one of their practices,” former Griz president Jerry West used to say often.

Yada. Yada. Yada.

All the media ever saw from Brown and Fratello was cussin’ and fussin’ — about everything.

It’s a new day because you don’t have to hear Griz general manager Chris Wallace say “If you could only… yada, yada, yada.” Monday was another example of being able to witness Iavaroni actually TEACH!

The best example happened near the end of the workout.

Forward Stromile Swift pulled up to attempt a 10-foot shot but saw an opening. So Swift fired a bullet pass to an unguarded Brian Cardinal, who missed the layup.

Cardinal spent the next few moments cursing the air in front of him.

“That’s OK,” Iavaroni said, “everyone misses a layup. Don’t worry about it.”

Then, Iavaroni required everyone to literally walk through the play and move exactly as they did when it happened fill speed. It didn’t take long for everyone to see the defensive breakdown. He explained why it happened, what he wants to see happen and asked if there were any questions.

No fussin’. No cussin’. Just effective teachin’.

If only you could see an Iavaroni practice.

The Marc Iavaroni Show, hosted by Ronald Tillery and Eli Savoie, is your chance to talk directly with Coach Iavaroni on Sports 56 (WHBQ-AM) every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. You can email questions to Iavaroni at any time by sending them to coach@sports56whbq.com.