Geoff Petrie hasn't completely lost his mind. It just seems that way. His edgy, new in-your-face, elbow-to-the-ribs, forearm-to-the-hip approach makes perfect sense.

Mental toughness? Physical toughness? Blue-collar workers?

Granted, these are not concepts normally associated with the Kings basketball president, whose conversations are dominated by references to backdoor cuts, ball and body movement, and the fluid beauty of the game – all elements he still values.

But after watching his club's incremental descent to a 17-win season, coupled with its amazing capacity to chase fans out of the building with feeble, uninspired performances, Petrie underwent a not-so-subtle offseason change in philosophy.

You can feel it. You can sense it. You can look at the three players drafted by the Kings last week – Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi and Jon Brockman – and understand his thinking. The plan is for the Kings to be competitive and entertaining and endearing enough that earplugs once again will be required at Arco Arena.

"It's something we talked about," said Petrie, referring to lengthy chats with team officials, among them new head coach Paul Westphal. "They're (the rookies) all mentally and physically tough players. There's motivation there to succeed. It's hard to draw too many parallels, but we did get a pretty good boost out of Brian Grant and Michael Smith. They came in together (1994) and gave us a jolt of energy, an aggressiveness the team hadn't had before."

Interestingly, with their varied backgrounds, the three newcomers would appear to have little in common other than their forceful, assertive style of play.

Evans, a native of Chester, Pa., was routinely exposed to drugs and gang activity, was a witness to a murder, and lost his father in his mid teens. Casspi has a chance to become the first Israeli to play in the NBA; he spent two years fulfilling compulsory military service obligations before turning professional. Brockman, an undersized power forward who nonetheless led the Pacific-10 Conference in rebounding the past two years, grew up in the bucolic Pacific Northwest and is a friend and former college teammate of Spencer Hawes.

Westphal – who coincidentally was drafted by the late Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtics patriarch who argued that diverse rosters both fueled competitiveness and furthered camaraderie – says he recognized the need for a shake-up and personality makeover while prepping for his Kings job interview.

With the deficiencies in defense and rebounding, he cited a collective malaise that caused the Kings to squander what not long ago was regarded as the most formidable home-court advantage in the league.

"When talent is roughly equal," said Westphal, "the competitive guys win. You have to have that in this league. Here's a perfect example: We (the Phoenix Suns) drafted Tim Perry and Dan Majerle the same year (1988). Now, if you get a stopwatch for down and back (baseline to baseline sprint), Tim Perry was faster than Dan Majerle. That's a fact. But if you had them race, Dan Majerle won. I can't explain it. Somehow, he had that drive, that fire, something inside him. If you have enough guys like that, your team starts winning again."

The fact Westphal and Petrie agree on the specifics for improving the roster is immensely significant. Previous coaches Eric Musselman and Reggie Theus never related to Petrie and, with Kenny Natt, came to perceive the organization's inability to balance the roster with rugged role players as an inherent flaw.

Change, though, is inevitable. You can't lose 65 games and refuse to re-evaluate. Petrie is talking about players who muscle for rebounds. Westphal is chatting about players who defend and attack the rim. While major issues remain, not the least of which is whether Evans is really a point guard, the Kings suddenly are sounding like a franchise transitioning toward a very different future.

Call The Bee's Ailene Voisin, (916) 321-1208.