SALT LAKE CITY — Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz's 117-78 win over Maccabi Haifa from KSL.com's Utah Jazz beat writer, Andy Larsen.

1. Jazz dominate bad competition

Before the game, I expected this Maccabi Haifa team to put up more of a challenge to the Jazz than the Sydney Kings. I was wrong, and it's not just the scoreline that reflects that.

Haifa's "stars" with NBA experience, Josh Smith and Samardo Samuels, were just awful. Smith jacked up 21 shots and made seven of them. Nine of those shots were threes, because, well, a career 28 percent 3-point shooter convinced himself that needs to jack more shots. He also had five turnovers, and his one assist might have been the only pass he made all night.

Samuels might have been worse, going 0-for-8, though only had two turnovers in 15 minutes. But at least both were really bad defensively.

Anyway, both of those guys, and the general selfish fecklessness of the Maccabi Haifa offense, made it difficult to evaluate the Jazz defensively. I thought having Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles, Thabo Sefolosha and Ricky Rubio in the starting lineup contributed to that, but with the kinds of shots they were taking, any team would have found success.

Those clanks off the rim weren't really responsible for the Jazz's offensive success, though. The Jazz finished with only four fast-break points and a relatively average-efficiency 23 points off of the 18 Haifa turnovers.

Where did the offense come from? Well, the Jazz bench shot really well from the outside. Both Alec Burks and Royce O'Neale were 3-for-3 from downtown, and Joel Bolomboy went 2-for-3. Overall, the Jazz shot 53.8 percent on their relatively open 3-point looks.

They generate these looks with some really excellent ball movement from top-to-bottom, which is all that was required to beat a lazy Haifa defense. The Jazz did throw up 21 turnovers, but that can be mostly excused by the bench playing major minutes and Rubio trying to be a bit too aggressive.

The Jazz have had one of the best records in the league in the last few years at beating bad teams, and I suspect that their offensive passing and defensive excellence will be enough to do that again this year. Against good teams? We'll have to wait and see.

2. Alec Burks leads the way

Alec Burks led the Jazz in scoring (16 points), rebounding (eight rebounds, all defensive), and minutes (playing 23:03 off the bench) tonight. He could have had more, too: he missed an easy layup, and shot only 3-of-7 from the free throw line.

But I've been really encouraged by what I've seen from Burks in the preseason so far, both on and off the court. Obviously, the scoring is nice on a team that needs it, but he's given a generally good effort on the defensive end.

And off the court, he's showing some of the self-awareness that I think sometimes limited him as a young player. He told us today that he wants to "make better decisions than I was when I was that 23-year-old just running around all the time." We saw that tonight, I felt.

One way he can show that maturity: simplifying his finishing. The single hallmark of Burks' early game was crazy, double-clutch, spinning scoop finishes that earned him the nickname "Houdini" from Jazz play-by-play man Craig Bolerjack. But that really let him down last season, when Burks shot under 40 percent from within three feet of the hoop. That's bad.

"Boler's called him 'Houdini' for a number of years, but being Houdini: that's a rough way to live," Snyder said in one of my favorite quotes ever. (Remember, Harry Houdini himself may have died after performing one of his signature tricks: getting punched in the stomach without reacting.) Instead, Snyder's instructed him to keep his game simple and just do an easier layup motion. After all, avoiding contact isn't really worth it when the contact is worth two trips to the free-throw line.

It's still going to be difficult for Burks to really earn minutes: Rubio, Rodney Hood, Donovan Mitchell, and Exum all probably deserve time over Burks at the guard spot. But if he keeps playing this well, he's going to end up with some playing time in an important year.

3. Who to cut?

Both Royce O'Neale and Joel Bolomboy played really well for the Jazz tonight, while Raul Neto sat out due to left quadriceps tightness after two excellent showings. The reason those three players belong in the same sentence despite playing different positions at different times is this: all three are competing for the last two spots on the Jazz's 15-man roster.

O'Neale feels like a classic Jazz 3-and-D bet, along the same lines as Chris Johnson and Elijah Millsap. O'Neale probably has a better offensive feel than those guys, though, as well as a better 3-point jump shot. In college, he shot 40 percent, and internationally, he shot 33 percent. That's not great, but it's better than Millsap or Johnson.

Bolomboy has really played well in these first two preseason games after a really bad summer league that probably led to the Jazz signing O'Neale in the first place. He's making his 3-point shots, but is showing great athleticism, rebounding and shot-blocking as well. He lacks the feel that O'Neale has, but might have the higher ceiling.

Raul Neto probably has the lowest ceiling of the three, but has just played so well, and so consistently before tonight. He also probably benefits from the positional math: he can be a solid third-string point guard, whereas Bolomboy might be the Jazz's fifth center, and O'Neale might be their eighth wing.

Contractually, though, Neto makes the most money ($1.4 million) of the three, and his contract is non-guaranteed for this season. Bolomboy makes almost as much ($1.3 million), and O'Neale makes the minimum ($815K). Both of the latter two have guaranteed contracts. Anyone who is waived is unlikely to stick around and play for the Salt Lake City Stars, in my opinion.

What will the Jazz do? My completely uninformed guess is cutting Bolomboy, but they have three more games to gather more info.

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