Clan-Members » Taryn Kloth and junior setter Lydia D

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Marc Gasols surgically repaired right foot is healthy, and the Memphis Grizzlies center insists hes back -- perhaps better than ever.Point guard Mike Conley is healthy too, his aching Achilles a distant memory. Jarell Martins own left foot is as healthy as its been in a long time.Chandler Parsons, the Grizzlies big free agent signee this summer , is the only person still recovering from his own knee surgery as the Grizzlies held media day Monday. Its a welcome change for a franchise that set a dubious NBA mark last season playing 28 different players due to injuries that ravaged the roster, giving new coach David Fizdale a healthy roster for the start of training camp Tuesday.The Grizzlies still reached the playoffs only to be swept by the San Antonio Spurs.Last year, man it was tough with all the injuries, especially the playoffs not having a full-strength team, so it was very tough, forward Zach Randolph said Monday. Now we all healthy, and now we looking at the big picture and thats getting a championship and getting a ring.Losing Gasol was the biggest hit. Memphis was fifth in the Western Conference on Feb. 8 when Gasol last played and slipped to the No. 7 seed as the injuries mounted. He had surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture in the navicular bone of his right foot Feb. 20, starting a long rehabilitation process to return him to the court.Recovery kept Gasol from playing for Spain during the Olympics, though the center wanted to play. He followed all the doctors orders and stuck with his rehabilitation. Gasol said hes never felt any discomfort in his foot, which makes him confident the repair worked. Hes now ready to help lead the Grizzlies back to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2013 and even further to a place Memphis has never been: the NBA Finals.Im confident that I have the capability of not just being the same player, but better, Gasol said. Better player, more productive, more consistent. Hopefully a better rebounder. ... Its going to be a challenge for me, but Im up for it. Im up for any challenge. I love challenges, and this years going to be another one.Guard Tony Allen said Gasol looks like hes added to his game, noting the man nicknamed Big Spain knocked down six straight 3s in a pickup game recently.Being healthy isnt the only difference for Memphis from the end of last season. The Grizzlies start training camp Tuesday with a new coach in Fizdale , a long-time Miami Heat assistant who Memphis hired in late May after firing Dave Joerger who was then hired by Sacramento.The Grizzlies also announced Monday they hired a new medical director in Allen Gruver, promoted Jim Scholler to head athletic trainer and added Eric Oetter as director of performance. Conley said the Grizzlies have bolstered the staff to help players, even adding massage therapists to help with recovery.Fizdale also suggested to the Grizzlies that they show up a couple weeks early and play together to start building chemistry and conditioning. Fizdale said he couldnt make them do it, and he liked how they listened. Managing Gasols minutes will be a big focus for Fizdale who plans to pull him early from some practices and keep him out of some games through the season.Im definitely going to preserve him, Fizdale said. I dont want to kill him throughout the year and dont have him for the playoffs so itll be very mindful of how I attack him coming back from an injury.---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Custom Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. 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Liverpool and Southampton sent Chelsea down to fourth place as the west London club was held to 2-2 at home. Zack Kassian Oilers Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. On one hand, Creighton sophomore Jaali Winters understands why this is a big deal. The Bluejays, who had never been to volleyballs NCAA Sweet 16 before last year, now have advanced that far two seasons in a row.But on the other hand ... well, isnt this whats supposed to happen? Winters doesnt lack for confidence, and she wears it well. She expects to win big matches. Thats part of why she came to Creighton, even if there were plenty of big schools that were interested.She felt like this was the right place for her. And perhaps its a self-fulfilling prophecy, but its turned out that way.I really cannot remember a time when I didnt have this mindset, Winters said after she got 23 kills and 14 digs in the Bluejays NCAA second-round upset of No. 5 seed Kansas last Friday. From a young age, I was told that confidence was the key to everything. Weve all heard the saying, Believe, and youre halfway there. When the pressure is on, you have to just get down to business and do it.Creighton is one of two teams from non-BCS schools to make the Sweet 16, and theyre both in the same regional in Austin, Texas. The Bluejays will meet No. 12 seed Michigan Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday (ESPN3), after host Texas, the No. 4 seed, plays No. 13 seed BYU (5 p.m. ET ESPNU).The Bluejays won the Big East regular-season title at 18-0, then swept both their matches to win the conference tournament. BYU was champion of the West Coast Conference, and is an inspiration to other mid-major programs, having made the national championship match in 2014, where the Cougars fell to Penn State.Its important for the mid-majors to get some of the great talent, Creighton coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth said. Fortunately, there are a lot of talented volleyball players in the Midwest.We can beat some BCS schools in recruiting sometimes, but we can also develop talent. If we can identify those kids who are wired the way Jaali is wired, thats what we want in our gym.How did the Bluejays land Winters, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from Ankeny, Iowa? Booth said that Winters family liked Creighton, which is in Omaha, Nebraska, about 144 miles west of Ankeny. (Incidentally, Jaalis father, James Winters, played basketball at Iowa in the 1990s. There, he was roommates with Chris Street, an immortalized Hawkeyes standout who was killed in a car accident in 1993.)Booth also sensed a strong connection quickly developed between Winters and the Bluejays players whom she met on her recruiting visit. But ultimately ...Im really not sure how we got her, Booth said with a smile. But we certainly are thankful she came here.Winters said thaat Creighton, which has a total enrollment of a little over 8,000, was the smallest of the schools she visited.dddddddddddd Her uncle, Adam Reid, had played basketball there, and he and others told her that she would get a feeling about what the right school would be.I thought that was just ridiculous, Winters said. Im not one to have a lot of emotions; Im a very logical person. But they told me, Youre going to know, and I did.Winters had a stellar freshman season, leading Creighton with 546 kills (a 4.07 per set average) and earning third-team AVCA all-America honors. She had 21 kills in the breakthrough 3-1 second-round win at North Carolina. Then, in the Bluejays final match of 2015, a 3-1 loss to top-seeded USC in the regional semifinals, Winters had 12 kills and nine errors.Jaali is highly competitive, Booth said, She didnt talk for about 48 hours after that loss, she was so upset about it. This is a kid that wants the ball at the end of the game, and steps up and goes for it. It doesnt always happen, but a good percent of the time, shes going to get it done.Winters is again the Bluejays kills leader this season; her 393 total and 3.54 per-set average reflect that Creighton has a bit more balance. Winters was an all-Big East first-team pick, along with fellow sophomore hitter Taryn Kloth and junior setter Lydia Dimke, a transfer from Purdue who was the leagues player of the year.Booth was the Big East coach of the year, and is in her 14th season with the Bluejays. Creighton had a volleyball program prior to the NCAA era, but ended it in 1980. The school brought the sport back in 1994, reflecting what was happening in the state.Nebraska volleyball built Creighton volleyball, Booth, a Lincoln, Nebraska, native, said of the Huskers program. I mean that in the sense that when Terry Pettit was the Nebraska coach and that program emerged in the 1980s and 90s, our high schools really developed. The high school coaches and club coaches improved a lot, and now volleyball is the premiere sport for girls in our state.Thats all a bit of ancient history for the Iowan Winters, who might say thats not her best subject. Winters is known for her short memory, which Booth said is a big plus. Winters doesnt dwell on plays, good or bad, and is always ready for whats next.Thats what the great ones do: They can move on, Booth said. And we didnt train that. She arrived that way. She prepares every day, and shes consistent. You want players like that on your team. ' ' '