Andrei, Fesenko hitting it off

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Two weeks ago, Andrei Kirilenko and Kyrylo Fesenko hadn't even met.

Now, however, the veteran forward from Russia and the rookie center from Ukraine have become not just Jazz teammates but fast friends.

Coach Jerry Sloan thinks he knows why — and it's not only because each has a similarly engaging personality.

Rather, it's the fact both speak Russian.

"You run into a guy that can talk to you, you end up having a friend," said Sloan, who calls Illinois home. "Everybody in southern Illinois, we all understand each other."

Kirilenko, for his part, expects the friendship to last.

"Why not?" he asked. "Well, if he is annoying, though, I will kick his butt."

Fesenko and Kirilenko, incidentally, shared a sushi dinner last Monday night. Fesenko showed up sick for practice on Tuesday morning with an apparent case of food poisoning, but Kirilenko did not.

"I have steel in," Kirilenko said, pointing to his stomach.

Fesenko played 16 minutes in the Jazz's 90-81 preseason-opening loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday night, and afterward said he was feeling better.

OKUR HAS TOE INJURY: According to his Web site, Jazz All-Star center Mehmet Okur is nursing a cartilage-related toe injury.

"I guess it happened from pushing it (too) hard. I was told that it is an injury that usually happens to dancers from over-practicing,"

Okur is quoted on the site, www.memo13.com. "They took (an MRI) and said it happened during the summer. It is something that has to be watched, but it will not keep me from practicing and playing."

The Jazz, who visit Detroit tonight for the start of a three-games-in-four-nights road trip that ends Monday at Phoenix, had not previously disclosed the injury.

Okur, who won an NBA title ring with the Pistons in 2004, played 19 minutes and scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field Wednesday.

HE SAID IT: Fesenko, after Wednesday's exhibition opener: "Now I need to make a lot of calls to Ukraine to say, 'Ahhh, I got my first game."'

HE SAID IT II: Sloan, whose Jazz play four of their next five preseason games on the road: "I'd rather play them all at home."