Perhaps surprisingly, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan actually prefers the latter.

"We're not expecting 30 points from him every night - I know some of the fans are, but I don't," Sloan said. "We probably don't even want that every game."

The reason? Sloan believes the Jazz are more effective when all five positions are productive. Too much offense from one position might eventually curtail that balance, allowing opposing defenses to more effectively target Utah's strengths.

"We're trying to get everybody involved so we're a factor all the way around," Sloan said. "You start dumping the ball into one spot, everyone else will start standing around. . . . Carlos is doing a good job of playing within our offense."

Even better for the Jazz: Boozer buys the concept, too. "We're a team, and we're trying to play team basketball," he said Saturday after Utah improved to 5-1 by walloping Detroit. "We're not just going to look for one guy every time. We're better when we make the extra pass and find the open guy. Play unselfishly."

Doing it the right way?

Pistons president Joe Dumars expressed his admiration Saturday for the way Kevin O'Connor has rebuilt the Jazz, saying teams like the Jazz and his Pistons have learned not to be blinded by sheer talent when it comes packaged with disruptive traits.

"The right guys are out there. You just have to know who they are. Obviously [the Jazz] do," Dumars said. "Sometimes what that entails is, you may have to take a guy who has a little less talent than the obvious talent that you're looking at in front of you. And that's hard for a lot of people to do."

He wouldn't cite any examples, but it's not hard to extrapolate a couple. The Jazz, for example, strongly considered Kenyon Martin before choosing to pursue Boozer instead.

They showed forward Stephen Jackson around town a year ago but never made an offer, deciding to focus on Corey Maggette and Jason Terry instead. And Dumars was pilloried - before the Pistons won a world championship, that is - for passing up Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft in favor of Darko Milicic.

"There's a lot of criticism that comes with saying, 'That guy may have more talent, but this guy fits better,' " Dumars said. "People tend to say 'Ahh, he'll be OK. We'll change him.' That doesn't work."

The three-time world champion (he won two rings as a player) said while teams like Utah, Detroit and a handful of others emphasize character, he doesn't expect it to catch on leaguewide.

"I don't think you'll see people passing on talent, even if they should. Even a selfish guy, if he's got all the skills, it's just too alluring," Dumars said. "I don't see us changing our way of doing business - trying to find guys who are unselfish, who care about playing right and care about each other.

"And quite frankly, I don't want everybody to do it that way."

His heart's with his children

Sloan's mind was in the Delta Center on Saturday, but his heart was in Beverly Hills, Calif., where the coach's three children accepted the Emily Couric Public Service Award from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on behalf of their mother.

Bobbye Sloan died from the disease in June, but not before becoming "a tireless advocate for cancer awareness," the organization said in honoring her for "exemplifying dedication to others." Jerry Sloan last month taped an emotional message that was played Saturday at PanCAN's annual "Evening With the Stars" benefit, and Holly, Brian and Kathy, the couple's three children, attended the banquet.

pmiller@sltrib.com