Memphis, Tenn. ? The first night of Drew Gooden’s National Basketball Association education went like this: He was schooled a few times and he also didn’t shy away from playing teacher.

Gooden, the Grizzlies’ first-round draft choice from Kansas University, finished with team-highs of 26 points and 14 rebounds as he gamely tried to rally his team late in a 106-98 loss to the Houston Rockets in Tuesday’s exhibition opener.

Memphis' Drew Gooden, right, defends Houston's Steve Francis, center, while teammate Brevin Knight helps during Tuesday's exhibition in Memphis, Tenn.

From his whirling moves in the post, soft fade-away jumpers and jump hooks, to not being in the right place defensively at times, the 6-10 forward played through some early rough spots and was the team’s go-to-guy in the stretch.

“Training camp prepared me for a lot of things,” said Gooden, who started in place of Pau Gasol, sidelined because of a sprained left wrist. “I’ve learned to take my time offensively, and I’m learning to rotate defensively. I kind of feel like I’m back in my freshman year in college.”

Grizzlies second-year forward Shane Battier sympathized with Gooden, having gone through the process of learning the NBA game just last year.

“In my first exhibition, I was just trying to stay out of the way and not be a liability to my team,” Battier said. “It’s your first time in an NBA game, there’s so many new sights and sounds, and you’re trying to take it all in. At the same time, you’re trying to figure everything out.”

The dilemma for Grizzlies coach Sidney Lowe and it’s a nice one to have is whether to play Gooden at power forward or small forward. It’s apparent he has the skills to do both.

“When he plays like that, he’s a player,” Lowe said of Gooden, who played more minutes (42) than any player on the floor Tuesday night. “He’s not a power forward or a small forward. He’s a player.”

He earned the immediate respect of the Rockets with his performance.

“Gooden is a heck of a player,” Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “He’s active inside and outside, he’s hungry. He’s going to score a lot of points and get a lot of rebounds in this league.”

Battier said the test for Gooden is the same every rookie faces getting the job done night in and night out and the next exam was Wednesday night against Miami in The Pyramid.

“I told Drew he had a great game, but, ‘What are you going to do tomorrow?'” Battier said.

Battier has his answer. Gooden had 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting and added 15 rebounds during the Grizzlies’ 83-71 victory Wednesday against the Heat in Memphis.

The ex-Jayhawk tallied 38 minutes during Wednesday night’s game.

Gooden said his pro debut wasn’t surprising.

“I’m confident, and being confident is what got me in this position,” he said. “It’s how I carry myself out there.”