SALT LAKE CITY — Wednesday was the second day of training camp for the Utah Jazz. Here are the main storylines from today's practice.

Tibor Pleiss' adjustment

Wednesday was the media's first chance to talk to new center Tibor Pleiss in a relaxed environment, and it was great to hear more about Tibor's adjustment to the NBA and life in the U.S.

Pleiss mentioned that his transition has been a bit difficult in terms of adjusting to the rules: he brought up the two "goal-handlings", as he called them, he had in practice. But generally, basketball is basketball, and Tibor's done well, according to his coaches and teammates.

"He's a pretty good shooter," Derrick Favors said. How tall is he, 7'2'', 7'3''? I didn't know he could shoot that well."

Quin Snyder said, "He's doing well," but is aware of the changes they're asking Pleiss to make from he's played in years past.

"I think the spacing's different. They're (European players) used to shifting way over for longer because there's no defensive three-second [rule]. That's probably the main thing. I think we're using him a little differently, we think he can shoot the ball. So we don't want him to be afraid to space and take a jump shot. He doesn't have to be just a post player. The game's suited for him. He's running real well and working hard."

His experience with the German National Team and Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen helped him with the transition this summer. Pleiss told us that the defensive system was similar to the Jazz's and the two teams run some of the same plays.

And, everyone's been impressed with his English. Snyder complimented that aspect, and said he was picking things up quickly. Pleiss taught himself English by talking to his teammates and practices conducted in English.

Jazz limit sloppiness

Both Snyder and the players noted on Tuesday that while the drills were well run, the scrimmage got a bit sloppy. So how was today?

"Today was much better. There was more control," Snyder reported. "I think sometimes guys have so much energy that it speeds them up. We stopped it (practice) a couple of times because the emphasis for us is win the battle of the ball. But some of the turnovers yesterday were the result of some good things we were doing on defense."

That's a credit to Jazz veterans Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward. More on that later.

Tweaks in the defensive system?

So far, most of the talk has been about how the Jazz are getting back to where they left off at the end of last season, but Favors gave us the first hint that there may be some tweaks in how the Jazz play defense this year.

"He kind of tweaked the defensive system a little bit," Favors said of Snyder. But when pressed, Favors wasn't particularly forthcoming. "Just different communications, different places where people should be, just lots of different stuff."

We'll be sure to ask Snyder about those things tomorrow.

Alec Burks vs. Rodney Hood

One thing to be determined by the first game is who will start at the shooting guard position. On one hand, Alec Burks is coming back healthy. When we asked Snyder how Burks looks so far, he answered: "Good. He's getting to the rim, looks healthy physically. He's got that pop that he has, and you know, Alec is a dynamic player."

The question with starting Burks, though, is whether he can fit in with the lineup on defense, which made big improvement while he was out of commission last season. But unprompted, Snyder praised Burks' D.

"I think he's really focused, particularly off-the-ball defensively, which is something that we've really pushed him on defensively."

On the other hand, Rodney Hood played really well at the end of last season, and in some ways may mesh better with the starting lineup.

About the battle between the two, Snyder said, "I think they have trust in me to use them appropriately. It probably won't be a thing where one of them beats out the other, it may be a question of lineups and matchups. The good thing about those guys is that they're both going to give everything they have, no matter if they're coming off the bench or starting."

Standouts thus far:

I asked Snyder about which players had looked the best in today's workouts, and the Jazz head coach went to his veterans: Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors.

"Gordon's been playing really well. He's just been assertive," Snyder said. "He's just been focused, it's really good."

Snyder had even nicer words for Favors' performance. "Fav today, when we scrimmaged, he's been playing with a purpose. There's been some precision and explosiveness as a result that's been good to see."

How has Favors improved?

"I like the idea of him being a playmaking 4. His ball skills are better, his passing, his ballhandling," Snyder said. "And what that means is he's going to be more aggressive out there on the floor."

We asked Favors about his performance today and he was naturally humble. Though he admitted, "Couple of the post moves I did today I was working on all summer."

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