The first day of the Grizzlies' mini-camp on Thursday at Rhodes College seemed a lot like Griz coach Hubie Brown's first day on the job last November.

That is, a two-hour-plus practice closed to the media featuring wall-to-wall teaching.

"Hubie has been bottled up since the end of the season, so he had to unleash it a bit," second-year Grizzlies power forward Robert Archibald said with a laugh.

First-round rookie draft choices Troy Bell of Boston College and Dahntay Jones of Duke got their first taste of a Brown practice, especially his emphasis on teaching. Bell, a combo guard, said he had signed a contract earlier in the day, but Jones, a swingman, said he hadn't signed yet.

"It was a learning day," Brown said. "We want them to do it right. We don't want them to come in here and think that they aren't going to be accountable. The first day is always difficult because you're trying to get in a lot - the groundwork of your defense and things we build off.

"There were a lot of hard drills, step back and teach, hard drills, step back and teach. They are all in different shape. You don't want to lose them on the first day."

Returnees Mike Batiste, Archibald, Chris Owens and Cezary Trybanski all had a different look about them.