Kirilenko not happy with new mask

BOISE — On the Jazz's opening day of training camp, Andrei Kirilenko was not exactly a happy camper.

Between the morning and evening sessions of two-a-days, Kirilenko received the mask he must wear to protect his recently broken nose.

"It feels terrible," said Kirilenko, who looked something like a cross between NHL goalie Nikolai Khabibulin and the lead in "Phantom of the Opera." "But what I can do?"

For a while, little but grin and breathe mostly through his mouth.

Kirilenko busted his beak during the recent European championships, and Jazz trainer Gary Briggs said Tuesday that the Jazz forward will have to wear the mask during practice and games for about four weeks while the nose heals.

Kirilenko, though, said he hopes his mask-wearing days last not nearly so long — and he's confident he'll be mask-free when the Jazz open regular-season NBA play Nov. 2.

With any luck, the mask may even be off before Halloween.

Briggs also said there's no reason to believe surgery will be needed.

Kirilenko agreed and said surgery actually has already been performed: The night he sustained the injury, he was taken to a Belgrade hospital and given anesthesia so the nose could be put back into its proper place.

FINALLY: It wasn't as if he were holding out or anything of the sordid sort.

Still, point guard Keith McLeod did test the limit on contract negotiations with the Jazz — waiting until just last Friday before agreeing to terms.

Why?

With McLeod, a restricted free agent, having signed no offer sheet from another team, the Jazz were in no hurry to up their qualifying tender of slightly less than $1 million. Yet McLeod must have known Utah would want to start the season with at least one point who had experience in its system, and that Jazz coach Jerry Sloan is a big fan of his — so he did have a smidgen of leverage.

Ultimately, the Jazz bumped their monetary offer to McLeod by a bit. In exchange, they took control of the option on the second season of a new two-year pact. The entire two-season deal is believed to be worth something slightly less than the $3 million reported by a newspaper in McLeod's home state of Ohio, and it's thought to include incentive clauses as well.