Geoff Petrie wasn't any happier than so many of his team's fans on Tuesday night.
The Kings not only lost to Memphis 109-94 at FedEx Forum, but they did so in many of the ways that prompted co-owner Joe Maloof to vent last week about the job being done by second-year coach Reggie Theus. In spite of the loss, the Kings' basketball president reiterated Wednesday that it's too early to pass a verdict on Theus and his staff. Unenviable circumstances, he said, demand that judgment be reserved.
"When you don't play well or with any energy, that's hard," Petrie said about the loss by phone from his office. "You don't like to see that.
"(But) the few times I've talked to Joe (Maloof) the last two to three weeks … I said it's just way too early to make a fair assessment of what we have here. It's going to get better. I'm sure of that, if we can get reasonably healthy for a reasonable period of time."
Among the team's first six rotation players, only Beno Udrih and John Salmons haven't missed any games. Swingman Francisco García has yet to play because of a right calf strain suffered Oct. 18, although Petrie said he might practice by week's end. Center Brad Miller missed five games to a league suspension, and forward Mikki Moore missed the two-game road trip with a right-ankle injury.
Most notably, leading scorer Kevin Martin has missed the past six games with a sprained left ankle and could be out longer than expected. While Martin's original prognosis had him returning no later than today, Petrie said his return might be delayed.
"I'm not even saying this is possible, but maybe the middle of next week," he said. "I wouldn't say that's written in stone, though. (His ankle) is getting better. It's just (a matter of) when he's going to feel comfortable just really going on it, and I don't think he's gotten to that point yet."
Nor has Petrie reached the point of wanting to make a coaching change.
"We're certainly still a developing team of some sort based on the people that are playing," he said, "and we're probably not in a position to have two or three of your top-six players out for long periods of time without it affecting your performance."
Read the Kings blog at www.sacbee.com/kingsblog.
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