SALT LAKE CITY — Four big storylines from Jazz practice Tuesday after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers at home Monday night.

Cooley and O'Brien waived

The Jazz waived two players today from the roster: Jack Cooley and J.J. O'Brien.

Neither player's waiver is a surprise, but it is perhaps surprising that they happened in this order, especially with Cooley. O'Brien and Treveon Graham were the two guys who had the smallest NBA resume on the roster, so that Graham has survived this round of cuts is an accomplishment for him.

The writing was on the wall for Cooley, though, as soon as the Jazz signed Jeff Withey. Cooley has very real strengths: he's an NBA-level rebounder, having set the D-League record for rebounds in a game last season. But his weaknesses are equally real: he's a very poor rim protector and overall defender, and his offensive game isn't anything special.

Quin Snyder was kind of bummed about it. "It's hard, especially when the guys that we have to let go are not only good people, but good players too who made a good contribution."

Still, with Jack Cooley, we'll always have this:

Burks' decision-making and defense

Alec Burks was the Jazz's best offensive performer against Portland in Monday night's game, but Snyder still had some issues to pick with Burks.

"I didn't think he defended real well last night," Snyder said. He did say that some of that difficulty was due to the Jazz's weird approach to Monday night's game positionally, but still felt Burks could stand to improve.

It wasn't only that, though. Snyder also feels that Burks could make better decisions with the ball. It's worth pointing out that while Burks played well, he still shot less than 50 percent from the field.

"He's a better decision-maker in my mind than he's shown," Snyder said. "He knows what reads to make. He tried to fool me when I first started, like he didn't know what he was doing. But I caught him. He's got no wiggle room anymore.

Gobert's recovery from FIBA EuroBasket

Rudy Gobert was hampered with foul trouble all night against Portland, ending up with five fouls in just 19 minutes of play. I thought a couple of those calls were incorrect ones by the officiating crew, but, well, it's their preseason too.

But even in his 19 minutes, he didn't look that dynamic. Indeed, he hasn't looked stellar except for a small stretch against the Lakers, otherwise, he's looked like a minor piece of the game. That's not the typical Gobert that Jazz fans came to know and love during the stretch run of 2014-15.

When asked what his main goal of the rest of the preseason was, Gobert answered that it was to "Get my energy back, get my body right."

Then, asked if his participation in FIBA Eurobasket had an impact, he admitted, "I'm trying to act like it doesn't, but of course it does. We had two months of preparation, then nine games of crazy intensity." It's just naturally going to take its toll on Gobert's body. For what it's worth, Gobert felt like his mind was 100 percent there, just his body seemed tired.

It's hard to recommend a course of action here for Snyder. Gobert has made himself into a critical part of the Jazz's attack, maybe the hardest thing opponents have to plan for on a regular basis. And yet he's already tired before the regular season has even began. Should Snyder give him the rest of the preseason off? In my mind, he's still a little bit too disconnected from his teammates on offense in order to feel good about doing that.

If I was Snyder, I'd probably have him participate in practice Wednesday and Thursday, have him play in Friday's open practice for the fans, then hold him out of action over the weekend, when the Jazz travel to Portland. Maybe even have him stay home.

Thibs at practice

Former Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau came to practice Tuesday, one day after attending the Jazz's game seated next to Jerry Sloan. Thibodeau wasn't wildly involved, but he did have a conversation with Jazz point guard Dante Exum:

Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is chatting with Dante Exum. pic.twitter.com/QgntbP2IYB — Jody Genessy (@DJJazzyJody) October 13, 2015

If anyone has experience with lead point guards tearing their ACL, it's Thibodeau after dealing with Derrick Rose's injury.

I asked Snyder about Thibodeau's presence. "He's just a friend that I've known and respected for a long time," Snyder said. Later, though, Snyder admitted that Thibodeau was giving the team "some ideas, some thoughts, and some coaching."

"Being able to win with discipline and training on the defensive end, they embodied that in Chicago. It's a good example for us."

It's been great to see the Jazz bring in all of the coaching eyes they can to practice, but in my mind, Thibodeau is the shining jewel of the Jazz's visitors thus far. Thibodeau really pioneered the strong-side defensive approach that so many teams, including the Jazz, use to great effect today, and it's great to have him around for as long as he wants to stay.

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