Geoff Petrie's look was the same as before. Light blue shirt, no tie, casual sport jacket.

The Kings basketball president had a familiar air as he discussed the firing of yet another coach Monday. This time it was Reggie Theus, just as Rick Adelman and Eric Musselman had been dismissed in the 31-month span of reluctant rebuilding that had come before.

But there was less need for the formal touches at the news conference. No podium this time, nor a microphone. Just the same old message of how another change was needed to protect the progress of Sacramento's highest-profile business. With the Kings posting a 6-18 win-loss record entering Monday's game against Minnesota, assistant coach Kenny Natt is now in charge as interim coach.

"You're always hoping for some sign that there will be change with some durability to it," Petrie explained in a separate interview with The Bee. "It's not about any one game or any one loss. It's about a situation more in its entirety. Once you've come … to the conclusion that you're only prolonging the inevitable, you may as well go ahead and do something."

And so the ax came.

The start of the Theus era had been ominous. Petrie was believed to be leaning toward Lakers assistant Brian Shaw during the coaching search 18 months ago when a call for more charisma from the Maloofs suddenly pushed Theus up the list. By the time Petrie decided to fire Theus, it was a much different story.

Theus, the former Kings star who had no NBA coaching experience and two seasons as a head coach of any kind (New Mexico State), barely survived a first season. His inexperience showed through and the always-challenging presence of Ron Artest tested him daily. The Kings had surpassed most expectations by finishing 38-44, earning national praise. But the approval rating wasn't nearly as high in-house as numerous non-basketball issues quietly affected the relationships of most importance to Theus.

There was a frequent complaint from the front office and players that Theus was habitually late to team buses or slow arriving to games; there was the way in which his candid nature with the media would irk the players and the team's training staff; there were stories of the coach answering his cell phone during practice. In many ways, Theus had only re-emphasized his me-first reputation of old.

In the locker room a sign put up by Theus read "It's not about you." The sarcastic retort among his critics, however, was that it was about him. Yet Theus, who said he saw this coming when Petrie opted not to pick up the non-guaranteed 2009-10 season on his contract worth approximately $2 million, perceived the complaints as misunderstandings or political maneuverings for a firing.

"If they've got to reach that far, if that really has any credence to it, that's ridiculous," Theus said by phone Monday. "I answered my cell phone one time last year. I don't know if it was the beginning of practice or what, but I was expecting a very important phone call. … I haven't even worn my cell phone this year. So even to bring it up is such a reach.

"I've not been late to a bus, not one time. ... I told Geoff when it was brought up that I never (wanted) to be there before the bus was ready to go because if one of the guys were late, I didn't want to have to fine them or leave them. It's the way I did it in college because you don't want to have to sweat the little things like that.

"Don't judge me by one or two mistakes that I made last year as a first-year coach. The second year going in, that's when they would've been mistakes on my part because now I know."

While there had been fewer complaints about Theus this season, the perceived problems related to his coaching.

He battled significant injuries and absences to Kevin Martin (15 missed games), Francisco Garcia (17 missed games), Brad Miller (five to suspension) and Mikki Moore (four games). However, there was concern around the team that his offensive and defensive schemes had grown more complicated at a time when there was a need to simplify to help the younger players flourish.

Assistant coach Chuck Person was also fired. He implemented a defensive scheme similar to that of San Antonio and Cleveland, that required teamwork across the board and didn't produce results with the Kings' young roster. Players were, according to Natt, lost at times trying to understand the game plan.

"Some of the guys were maybe confused," said Natt, who spent nine of his 13 seasons as an assistant under renowned disciplinarian Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz. "One of the things I talked to Geoff and the owners about was to simplify things as much as possible … not being as confusing and being more demanding and accountable. And that starts with being on time. You may not think that's something, but that's been an issue.

"Guys haven't been focused or been responsible. You get paid a lot of money to come in and do their work for two hours a day. Here you've got people out there starving for jobs and opportunity and they've got one of the best. This is an opportunity for you to come out and give everybody their money's worth."

Because quite clearly, Petrie didn't believe his bosses were getting theirs.

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