FanHouse KennyNatt

A lot of Kings fans, myself included, spent the 2008-09 season bemoaning the inability of Sacramento starting point guard Beno Udrih to cleanly pass the ball. But let me assure you: Beno has no problem passing the blame.

A candid, borderline cheerful Beno discussed the abominable 17-win season with Sacramento media Monday. And his opinion on what went wrong was impossible to misinterpret: blame coaches Reggie Theus and Kenny Natt.

"Sometimes last season, I didn't know if I was a small forward or a point guard," the 6'3 Udrih said. "We were definitely confused. We didn't have roles."

For 24 hours, the NBA had no head coaching vacancies. That's a stunner for the week after season's end; usually there's a bloodbath immediately following the final regular season game. But Flip Saunders quickly replaced Ed Tapscott, Oklahoma City hurried to lock in Scott Brooks, and the other potential openings remained tentatively filled ...

... until the Kings declined the 2009-10 option on interim coach Kenny Natt's contract Thursday. The move had been expected with some certainty. But in comments related to the new opening, Geoff Petrie has raised some eyebrows about what kind of coach the team will seek.

The Kings sacked Reggie Theus this morning, landing somewhere between surprise and "duh" on the Richter scale. For most people who know, Sacramento's performance and the general ferver surrounding the coaching guillotine sent Theus toward the gallows of expected dismissal. But closer to the scene, Geoff Petrie's history left many of us sure Theus would survive until April.

Petrie has only fired a head coach once in his near 20 seasons as a basketball executive. In four years in Portland, Petrie stayed with Rick Adelman; Petrie left when Adelman did. Upon arriving in Sacramento in 1995, Petrie kept atrocious incumbent coach Garry St. Jean for nearly two full years. However, in March of 1996 with 15 games remaining, Petrie canned St. Jean. Since then, the Kings have gone through four coaches; only Theus saw his end come during a campaign.

This is just getting ridiculous: the Kings fired Reggie Theus this morning, becoming the sixth NBA team this season to replace their head coach. According to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee, assistant coach Chuck Person will join Theus in the unemployment line, while assistant coach Kenny Natt will take over as interim head coach.

Theus' departure is hardly a surprise -- the Kings have dropped 10 of 11 games and have a dismal 6-18 record on the season. And as Tom Ziller pointed out over the weekend, getting blown out by the Knicks erased whatever goodwill Theus earned by upsetting the Lakers last week.

Natt lacks head coaching experience but certainly has an impressive resume. He joined the Kings last season after spending nine years working under Jerry Sloan in Utah and three under Mike Brown in Cleveland. All in all, he's spent 28 years preparing for this opportunity: after his NBA playing career ended after 49 games, he bounced around Europe and the minor leagues before doing everything from scouting, coaching and working in the front office.

That said, Natt might just be keeping the spot warm for Eddie Jordan, who was recently fired by the Wizards but rumored to be a favorite to take over in Philly and Sacramento. Stay tuned.