Timberwolves, Grizzlies coaches compare interim tag notes, love of Gophers program

MEMPHIS – If there’s anybody in the NBA who knows what Timberwolves interim coach Ryan Saunders is going through, it’s Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff.

Bickerstaff, a fellow former Gophers player, had the interim tag attached to his name last season before the Grizzlies lifted that designation in the offseason.

Bickerstaff said being an interim coach brings a lot of challenges that aren’t easy to navigate, especially if you want to install changes.

“The timing of it all, the lack of preparation time, trying to figure out how to make a shift if you’re trying to make a shift, how you get it in with practice days … so few and far between,” Bickerstaff said. “When you are an interim, you think you…