When the Kings tucked their tails between their legs and headed home from the 0-4 road trip that started the season, the future of their coach was being discussed by the team's front office and ownership behind closed doors.

And had the downward spiral continued with a home-opening loss to Memphis rather than the win that started a mini-turnaround, numerous team sources said, Reggie Theus may have been days away from being replaced.

Despite the fact the Kings won four of five games before facing Phoenix on Friday, co-owner Joe Maloof began Friday by sharing his candid views on the local sports talk radio airwaves. He saved his most pointed comment for last on KHTK's "The Rise Guys" show, expressing a desire for Theus to develop a more defined system.

"He's got to get a system," Maloof said. "And if he gets that system and we have confidence in him, (then) he's got a bright future with us. If he doesn't get that system, then you know, you know he better, he better try to get one quickly."

In a later interview with The Bee, Maloof was asked how short a leash Theus is on. While he signed a three-year deal worth $6 million before last season, the third season is the team's option and Theus is on the hot seat.

"Well, I think Reggie's future depends upon Reggie and how he develops our young players," Maloof said. "Just like anything in life, you have to look at your wins and losses, look at your success. Is your team progressing?Are they getting better? Can you see a bright future for your team?"

In many ways, Maloof's views repeated last season's. He called on his coach to play the young talent. He expressed disgust with the team's turnover problems and inability to defend the three-point line. Yet while Maloof waited until early April last year to publicly evaluate Theus, the timing of his latest job review set an early tone for the rest of the season. The expectations, privately and publicly, have been made clear.

Yet despite Maloof's lengthy list of frustrations, he said Theus was "doing a better job this year than he did last year." And outside of a desire to see more playing time for rookie forward Donté Greene, he is pleased with Theus' integration of the team's young players.

"He's getting the young players an opportunity to develop," Maloof said. "He needs to make sure he doesn't bury any of them on the bench. I don't want them buried on the bench. That's our future.

"We've got to get fans back in the building, and the only way you get fans back into the building is we've got to keep the excitement, and I think it's youth-driven.

"That's the way it is."

Theus, who said he had heard Maloof's radio interview in which he praised the system of Houston coach and former Kings coach Rick Adelman, disagreed with Maloof's assertion that he doesn't have an adequate system in place.

"We have a very good system," he said. "We have an absolute system. We are a C-action (corner action), high-post, double-high post team that has quite a bit of ball and body movement."

Asked if he had any sense of his job security, Theus said he couldn't be concerned with matters out of his control.

"I'm coming to work with my hard hat on, lights blinking," he said. "That's what I do. Whatever they decide to do, it's up to them. I think if you were putting a checklist together in terms of what we said in the beginning of the season and what's going on right now, I think we've done that. I will be here with my hard hat on, doing my job."

Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.