The Grizzlies were back at work early after taking Sunday off. They conducted an early-morning workout to accommodate the annual tip-off luncheon on the main FedExForum court.

This practice was certainly spirited with head coach Marc Iavaroni emphasizing that the team “needed to clean up mistakes” as they prepared to host the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night in the season opener.

Some observations:

*** Pau Gasol is back. Yes, the 7-foot Spaniard returned to practice and went full speed through all of the contact drills and scrimmages. He said the moderately sprained left ankle he suffered midway through training camp still hurts. But Gasol said there is no way he would miss the regular-season opener.

*** No, Brian Cardinal didn’t get cut as teams around the league trimmed its rosters Monday. Cardinal’s absence today was due to a pretty bad case of the flu, according to Iavaroni.

*** Shooting coach Mark Price returned to the FedExForum practice court. Price could be seen working on free throw shooting with Hakim Warrick after practice.

*** Defense was a big part of practice as the Griz worked tirelessly on when to use their 2-3 zone.

*** Iavaroni got a little testy and stopped practice whenever the Griz showed no interest in playing transition ‘D.’

“How many fastbreak points did we give up in our last game?” Iavaroni asked the group.

The first few guesses came in around the mid to upper-20s. Of course, the correct answer is 36 fastbreak points scored by the Indiana Pacers, whose layup drill last Friday night resulted in an 81-point first half and a 140-113 victory.

*** Darko Milicic continuously was one of the main culprits on defense as he frequently didn’t run back.

*** Mike Miller still is struggling with his shot. He admitted that he doesn’t have his legs after playing all summer with USA Basketball.

*** The Spanish media is starting to arrive. The Griz are expecting 12 Spanish journalists for the season opener. Don’t be surprised if at least half that many follow the Griz regularly given the country’s two biggest basketball stars – Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro – now reside in Memphis.