Paul Westphal has gone and done it. In a matter of weeks, he has put some kick back in the Kings. Or as someone said to me after Friday's victory over the Houston Rockets, "All that diving on the floor. What's that about?"

One season. Two seasons. Three seasons. Part of four seasons. You start to forget how the game is supposed to be fun, how spontaneous fans are supposed to sound, how an arena is supposed to feel. And yet sooner than expected, Arco Arena has experienced a dramatic mood swing.

Inside, there is a pulse. Outside, it's safe to wear purple in public again.

"I think the fans of Sacramento are dying for a team they can love," Westphal said recently. "We want to give them hustle, give them players that dive on the floor, take charges, show how much they care."

Nine games into the season, these Kings are doing all of the above, and most importantly, they're doing it at home. This is where it starts, where a love affair is rekindled. Take back Arco, revive the passion in the coziest of NBA buildings, and a huge advantage returns to the Kings.

While it's too early for major pronouncements, changes are happenings.

Westphal has thrown a fresh coat of paint on the walls, cleaned up the locker room and rid the coaching staff of the chronic sniping. The Kings and their visitors can walk around the facility these days without choking on the negativity.

"There is a certain swagger he brings," said Jason Thompson. "He's been a winning coach. He was a successful player. We set goals for certain games, about rebounding, getting stops and running. The message is, 'If you don't set goals and want to be successful, you shouldn't be here.' " One question for the coach: Where ya been all these years?

While the Kings endured the end of the Rick Adelman era and the tenures of Eric Musselman, Reggie Theus and Kenny Natt, Westphal in fact was always in the neighborhood, coaching Pepperdine for five years, working on Avery Johnson's staff for a season in Dallas, then returning to his native Southern California.

He wanted another NBA headcoaching gig so badly, he went out and grabbed one. He offered to work for whatever the Maloofs could afford – a figure around $1.5 million per year – and was willing to do so without long-term guarantees. Two years, a few incentives; that's all he wanted, all he received.

This is what the Maloofs are getting in return: The indefatigable Thompson emerging as a force at power forward. Beno Udrih rehabilitated. Rookie Tyreke Evans thriving in a backcourt with Udrih, a veteran point guard. Spencer Hawes struggling with his shot but muscling for rebounds to keep his job. Andres Nocioni, Omri Casspi, Donté Greene contributing. Kenny Thomas again a factor.

For whatever reasons – his short contract, his eagerness to re-establish himself in his profession, his innate love of the game – Westphal, 58, is coaching with a sense of urgency and demanding that his players follow the same timeline.

He has his quirks and will make crazy moves, as do most creative, confident coaches. He started and waived small forward Desmond Mason within a matter of weeks. He benched Udrih for the season opener.

He started Sean May ahead of Hawes. He directed the struggling Casspi to shoot the technical against Oklahoma City to instill confidence in him. In addition, Westphal rejects the notion of a rigid rotation. He prefers instead to tinker with substitution patterns, coaching by feel and flow, with playing time dictated by performance. His sideline performance itself is inspiring, replete with fist pumps, pirouettes, the barking of directions, the heaping of praise.

Plenty of challenges await, of course. The Kings need another big man. The offense lacks fluidity and the ball movement is nonexistent at times. And while Kevin Martin's injury absence has allowed for the more effective Udrih-Evans backcourt pairing, Westphal will be forced to re-evalute when his scoring leader returns. (Udrih, Evans and Martin together on the court, perhaps?)

Meantime, the Kings are competing, scrapping, entertaining and reclaiming their real estate. Finally, there is a sense of renewal at Arco, of a legitimate, pragmatic and workable rebuilding process. All of it starts with the coach.

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