The Grizzlies open their regular season Wednesday night at Houston. I’ll have my annual season-preview piece in this week’s Flyer, but to get things started, here’s a mostly complete transcript of my recent interview with Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni:

Marc Iavaroni

After the first two pre-season games you began using the Marc Gasol-Darko Milicic pairing in the starting lineup. Have you settled on that as a lineup to begin the season?
I haven’t made that decision yet, but frankly, looking at the way Darrell Arthur has been playing … Now, he did it against back-ups, but they were NBA veteran backups. I think the kid has shown a lot of spunk and ability. I think he should definitely be in the rotation. If we don’t start him, he could get lost in the rotation

Are you surprised that Arthur seems ready for a rotation spot?
He had a very up-and-down mini-camp and summer league, so I didn’t know what to expect from him. But I did know he was working very hard.

So, is Gasol solid as the starting center or is that still up in the air?
Well, I would be more apt to take Darko and bring him off the bench than Marc, but I think they’ve both played well enough to start.

What’s your take on how that combo — Gasol and Darko — has faired?
In terms of passing ability, it is reminiscent a little bit of Pau and Darko. Marc is certainly a good passer and he makes Darko better.

I’ve been tracking assists in the preseason, and more of Gasol’s assists have been to Darko than any other player, while a huge percentage of Darko’s baskets have been off Gasol assists, so there certainly seems to be a positive dynamic between them.
I think it’s good because it puts Darko [close to the basket] and puts Marc in a position to shoot the ball. And Marc can always go post up when Darko’s running pick-and-rolls. We run misdirection: Darko will run the pick-and-roll one way and we can [swing the ball] the other way and there’s Marc in a post-up. So, I like that component as well.

Marc Gasol

If you were to start those two, is it hard to maximize their minutes together when you don’t have a viable center off the bench, since Hamed Haddadi is clearly not ready?
Yeah, you’d have to start going to other lineups — think, can we play two smalls? The other night we got a lot of minutes with Darrell and Hak[im Warrick] together, but it’s still pretty cloudy to think about relying on that in the regular season. So, the answer to your question is yes. It does create issues with minutes and substitution patterns.

I assume it’s safe to say at this point that Mike Conley, O.J. Mayo, and Rudy Gay are set as starters along the perimeter.
Yeah. I don’t see any shocking news there. I still think that Lowry’s better off the bench, and that he can play a lot better [than he has in the preseason]. So we certainly wouldn’t make any move there.

Click on the post title for the full interview

So, it terms of the 4 and 5 slot: Are you looking to settle on an opening-night lineup that would be set until something changes or could it be game-to-game?
Well, I think you’d like to play to your strengths and I think that this starting lineup [except for a couple of games] has been playing pretty well. That said, I would like to match up pretty well against Houston and Orlando. Houston’s probably going to go with their normal thing with Yao [Ming] and [Luis] Scola. And I could see Orlando going with Rashard Lewis at 4. We’ll be better with our schemes. We’ll be more capable and more confident. I can see those [Gasol and Milicic] matching up pretty well.

Offensively, you started last year with a proven post player in Pau Gasol and at least a couple of high-level three-point shooters in Mike Miller and Juan Carlos Navarro. The team this season doesn’t seem to have either of those elements. How does that change the offensive strategy?
We made a decision that we were going to improve our defense, and that was the number-one priority. It was wise to do that because we weren’t that good and we lost two 40% three-point shooters. Something’s got to give. We’re not as good of a three-point shooting team on paper [as we were a year ago] or as good of a free-throw shooting team. Right now, the free-throw shooting is what’s really perplexing me. Either guys are not putting in enough extra time or they’re not relaxing. I’m not good at the Zen free-throw teaching.

But productivity on the offensive end is a concern if we don’t clean up some things. We need to be more disciplined. We’ve been taking some shortcuts when we feel physical pressure from the defense. And we’ve got to move the ball more. Even though our primary scorers — O.J., Rudy and Marc Gasol, and sometimes Hak — are going to have some things called for them, they’re going to have to understand: Even though it’s your play, it might not always be your shot. We’ve got to be better passers. We’ve got to do all the little things that add up to sharp execution, and if the shot goes in, great. If the shot doesn’t go in, either we get guys to shoot better or we have to get better shooters.

I guess I’m wondering, when you don’t have some of the components you had last season, how does that impact the philosophy? Is there more emphasis on transition offense?
We have two fewer three-point threats, so when we come down in transition, we have to drive the ball more and take shorter shots. And we have to make sure we don’t hold the ball. We’ve had a tendency in attempting to create a shot for guys to hold the ball. Today [in practice] that was much better.

You mentioned the shaky free-throw shooting in preseason. It seems like this is a team that will get to the line more that last year, with more dribble-penetration. Does that make it even more of a concern that you’re leaving too many points at the free-throw line?
Yeah, we are [going to draw more fouls]. And we can’t even it up by fouling them more. I want us to be physical, but we can’t foul without there being a purpose. We’ll get to the line more, but we don’t want it to be a push. And then it’s just a function of guys putting in the work and relaxing at the line. And with young players that can take time.

Even though you have less proven three-point shooting this season, it seems like maybe you have more options from mid-range. And other than Rudy and O.J., who are going to be your primary scorers, it seems like the best mid-range shooters are frontcourt guys — Warrick, Gasol, Darrell Arthur. Is that where a lot of halfcourt shots might come from, off pick-and-roll or penetration and kickouts?
Yeah. Your smaller players inside, like Hak and Darrell, have to be able to pick and pop or space off of other people driving to the basket. People who can post up, that’s great, but if you’re on the court with too many of those kind of guys, you have no spacing, no drives, and the offense really grinds to a halt. We have to have both. Space the floor and be able to make easy plays. That’s where we’re still complicating things. Against a good team, if they shrink the floor and put people in the paint, then you’ve got to just [swing the ball] and stop trying to thread bounce passes to seven-footers. It’s a process. We’re learning. But you’re right, those three — Hak, Marc Gasol and Darrell Arthur — can all be very good intermediate shooters.

Let’s talk about Mike Conley’s progress. He got off to a strong start in the preseason, but seems to have struggled on the recent road trip. Has he been up and down?
I think Mike is the perfect orchestrator if everybody’s on the same page. As a young point guard, he’s going to struggle when everyone starts going off on their own. That’s what happened against Orlando in particular. We came out and took some quick shots and that fed their break and that fed their confidence, and that shook us. Mike is trying to get people the right plays, and after he relinquishes the ball and gives them responsibility of the ball — and I’m not trying to defend him, he was part of it. But there’s responsibility for everyone to say, if I don’t have it I need to get it back to him or to someone who’s going to do the right thing.

Mike Conley

When Hubie Brown was here, he always said that one of the most important things for a player to learn was when to pass and when to shoot. Watching Conley, I wonder if the question for him is when to be aggressive and when to be deferential?
Steve Nash had that [issue]. Nellie and then us, we were saying, be aggressive, come on, shoot it. But his nature was to facilitate for others. But it got to the point where he’d realize, hey, if I don’t get aggressive, we’re going to lose this game and not get deep into the playoffs. I think every true point guard has to suffer that. And [Conley’s] no different. He’s short on experience and he’s got a shot that’s developing. I’m sure that what’s going through his mind is ‘good shot, bad shot,’ ‘is there somebody else more open?’

Is it an even more difficult transition as a young point guard when you’re on a team that’s so perimeter-focused? Where the top two scorers on the team are likely to be a scoring guard and small forward who will demand the ball more on the perimeter?
I don’t know. He doesn’t have Greg Oden in there, but we do have to develop Marc Gasol and make him feel like an integral part of it. He’s our inside threat right now. I think he’s our best post-up guy on the frontline. That’s part of a young team finding an identity. He doesn’t know Marc Gasol from diddly, other than that he’s Pau’s brother and he’s pretty big.

I guess my point was that if you look at situations like a Nash in Phoenix or Chris Paul in New Orleans or Deron Williams in Utah, they’re all in situations where they dominate the ball because the other primary offensive players are in the frontcourt. They aren’t sharing the court with perimeter players who will demand the ball as much as Rudy Gay and O.J. Mayo will.
Yeah, it’s a good point. I think you’re right. We have to find room for one another. If we’re going to give O.J. the ball, then he’s gotta either make a shot or make a play, and now the point guard has to be a good spot-up shooter or a good guy to go to now to make the next play in terms of driving and whatever else we do at the end of offense.

How do you feel the progress has been in developing on-court chemistry among those guys?
Well, number one, they’re motivated. I think that’s the most important thing. I think their spirit is in the right place. And that’s going to go a long way. Two, I think it’s a process. You’ve got a known scorer in Rudy and a known scorer in O.J. and it’s a process for them to understand that there are only so many shots in a game. We’ve got to find something where I’m not going to pass up good looks to get you the ball and you’re not going to pass up good looks to get me the ball, but when we don’t have good looks, we’re going to give the ball to people who can do something with it and that probably will include one another.

Let’s turn to the defense. How will the approach be different this year in terms of philosophy or strategy?
Well, a lot of things. I decided to go ahead and entrust Kevin [O’Neill] with it. It’s things we used to do in the other places, like with Mike Fratello and Pat Riley. We’re forcing the ball to the sides. We’re blitzing or showing hard on pick-and-rolls. We’re spending more time there in practice and a lot more energy. And it’s really served to toughen our offense. Right now, our offense is not at the confidence level that we need, and you have to give credit to the defense for that. Down the road, it’ll help us.

In terms of personnel on the defensive end, is the biggest difference that this team seems to have more quickness on the perimeter? Last year, about 30 percent of the total team minutes were played by Mike Miller, Juan Carlos Navarro, Damon Stoudamire, and Casey Jacobsen. Those all may be better shooters than the players replacing them, but it seems like you’re upgrading defensive quickness at every spot.
Yeah, I think we probably have more juice there and more defensive orientation. Look at Quinton Ross. Look at Greg Buckner. Rudy’s capable. And, frankly, O.J. should be a better defender than Mike Miller. But he’s going through a lot of growing pains too. He’s a rookie. He’s going to make mistakes.

You mention Rudy. He had a breakout year, but it seemed like while everything about his scoring game took a big leap, a lot of the rest of his game — defense, rebounding, playmaking — was more stagnant. Is there a focus on trying to round out his game a little more?
No question about it. He’s been pushing himself to be more than just the leading scorer. He has to be the leading man. Leading men have to do more than just look good. They have to make sure others look good. They have to make sure the scene comes off flawlessly. They have to make sure others look good playing off them. And that’s hard. He’s got star potential, but he will be judged on how well others play with him, and that’s a lot of responsibility for a young kid who’s not used to being in that role and who’s now with a team that’s counting on him so heavily. It’s not going to happen overnight. Those are some big steps to take.

Rudy Gay

Let’s talk about the bench. The frontcourt seems pretty open at this point among the four main guys. The starters are set on the perimeter. In terms of the bench at 1-3, if Lowry is the back-up one, that leaves four guys competing for minutes behind O.J. and Rudy. How is that competition looking so far?
Well, I think it’s already been reported that [Javaris] Crittenton seems to be the man out and I’ve sat down with Javaris and said, you know, you have to be patient because we have so many young guys and O.J. has gone in there and grabbed a spot, not because of me but because of him. He’s put his brand on the spot. And there go potentially 48 young minutes. That creates a problem because, among our reserves, I’d like to have some veteran defensive stuff and he’s neither right now.

Are you looking to go with a tighter rotation?
Right now we got 10 guys and I’m not a 10-guy player, so we’ll have to see. On a nightly basis, if someone doesn’t have it, then as a coach you have to have a feel of who might have it and go more with them. You want to make people secure, but at the same time they have to produce.

Getting back to the initial question about how the frontcourt might shake out: Darko has been starting at the four in the preseason. He was the starting center all last year. You’ve talked about the possibility of bringing him off the bench if Hak or Darrell start at the four. He’s sort of been known for being an up-and-down guy and for having confidence issues. What’s your thought for what’s the best way to get him on the right page?
Well, I think we have to continue to do what we’ve been doing. He’s been starting [in the preseason] and I think he’s looked comfortable in that role. I think he’s worked hard. I think he’s trying to do the right thing. He came [to camp] in better shape. I think there are times when he’s taking a bad shot here and there. Some of that’s on me. I’ve got to more narrowly define his role and get him feeling good about kicking butt inside offensively and not worry about whether it’s a good shot or a bad shot. We can’t leave him on an island with the ball at 18 feet. I think that’s where he gets himself into trouble. He’s not built for success there right now. Since he’s not a primary scorer, we need to get him doing things where he’s really helping others and having an impact on the game, on the boards, blocking shots, playing solid defense on other centers and guarding the toughest interior player on the other team each night, which takes pressure off of Marc.

Darko Milicic

The schedule to start the season is pretty rough. You’ve got six of eight on the road. Given how young this team is, how concerned are you about keeping them all focused and on the same page in the face of what could be a lot of adversity right out of the gate?
I think we have to be prepared for winning all eight and we have to be prepared for losing all eight and everything in between. That means: Look guys, this is not going to define us. What will define us is our approach. If we’re going to come off the court every night having said, we worked harder than our opponent; we did not back down, then I think we’re going to be building something that, in time, people will say, ‘I can see this working.’ But if we’re going to start making excuses, start saying we’re flat, start saying we’re young, start saying we’re new to one another, then we’ll be building in failure. And that’s something that we cannot accept.

Submitted by Chris Herrington on Sun, 10/26/2008 - 9:05am.
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