FanHouse ReggieTheus

It's June, a.k.a., a terrible time to find a quality basketball coach. But that will be USC's task after Tim Floyd's sudden resignation Tuesday amid a slew of allegations regarding the recruiting of star guard O.J. Mayo. Athletic director Mike Garrett (right) is used to hiring coaches on the fly. He fired Henry Bibby just four games into the 2004-2005 season, tabbed Jim Saia as interim coach for the season and then nabbed Floyd.

Garrett has time before having to go the interim route and there are some qualified coaches who either are unemployed or at mid-majors and would likely leave their schools and incoming recruiting classes for a job at a major school in a major conference. The USC athletic director has a history for going after tough gets and succeeding, but the question is whether the Trojans basketball program will be severely punished for the Mayo situation? Floyd was accused by former Mayo associate Louis Johnson of giving $1,000 to Rodney Guillory, an alleged street agent representing Mayo.

They came into the league just one year apart, both directly from high school as No. 1 picks in the NBA draft, two vastly different, wonderfully-talented players expected to turn very bad teams into very good ones.

The Cleveland Cavaliers picked forward LeBron James in 2003. The Orlando Magic took center Dwight Howard in 2004. Each now is on the cusp of taking his team to the NBA Finals with a chance to win the first championship in franchise history.

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Former Sacramento Kings and New Mexico State coach Reggie Theus told the Arizona Republic that he would be interested in the Arizona job.

That makes sense. Theus is an unemployed coach and Arizona is a soon-to-be-available high profile job. And there's no word if the reporter asked any other hard-hitting follow up questions such as, "Do you find Halle Berry attractive?"

So this news isn't surprising. What is surprising is if you read some of the comments on the story, a lot of the Arizona fans would be against the move. Instead of embracing Theus, they are making some Hang Time jokes that were funny about three years ago. (When I was doing them.) Now, I understand that Arizona fans probably don't follow the WAC or New Mexico State closely, but scoffing at Theus does not speak well of your basketball I.Q.

Let's be perfectly blunt here. Arizona would be lucky to get Theus. Mark Few is not walking in that door. John Calipari is not walking in that door. Arizona's athletic director has high hopes for a big-name coach. Theus would end up being the best possible candidate that they could get. If Theus could quickly turn around New Mexico State's program, he would certainly do a great job in Tucson. Arizona fans need a reality check. I know we're looking at a small sample size, but some of those mouth breathers should stay away from the computer.

However, I still figure that Oregon would be a better option for Theus. And Arizona is going to end up being bitterly disappointed with the coach that they end up with.

A report from the US Airways Center in Phoenix, where the Knicks faced the Suns on December 15th.

There was a piece on TrueHoop yesterday that took a look at each of the final games that led to the firings of six NBA head coaches this season. The New York Knicks ended up killing a coach in two of the six "sendoff games," which is something that Mike D'Antoni found to be a bit insulting.

When asked about the slew of early-season firings (and the one that involved Reggie Theus most recently), D'Antoni pretended to be insulted that coaches were losing their jobs after losing to his Knicks.

"I want to say something, and I hate that for Reggie, there's no doubt about it," D'Antoni said. "But just because the Knicks beat somebody they have to fire the coach the next day? That's the second one! I mean, come on! We're not that bad. You guys are spreading some rumors, 'well if the Knicks beat 'em, then we gotta do something.' "

Obviously D'Antoni was joking around here, but there's at least a little something to it. Even though he and his current roster of players may be giving it all they've got, the fact is that the team traded their best players away for an empty roster spot in the form of Cuttino Mobley, along with some lesser talent. It's perceived by many around the league that the Knicks are mailing it in until 2010, and perception is reality -- especially when we're talking about head coaching jobs in the NBA.

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.

Deposed Sacramento Kings coach Reggie Theus isn't going to be unemployed for very long. He's just too good of a coach to be thrown by the wayside. And while another run in the NBA isn't out of the question, Theus should seriously consider returning to college basketball where he achieved some success turning around New Mexico State's basketball program.

But where would be the best fit for Reggie?

New Mexico State would certainly welcome him back. The Aggies are 4-4 under Theus' successor Marvin Menzies. But somehow, I don't believe that Theus will be going back to Las Cruces. UNLV has long been Theus' dream job, but Lon Kruger isn't going anywhere.

Reggie's best bet might be in the Pac-10.

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.

Your standard "who's next?" list of endangered NBA head coaches now includes Sacramento's Reggie Theus and Memphis' Marc Iavaroni. Actually, both men have been on the hot seat most of the season -- Iavaroni was reportedly under fire last April, and Theus almost lost his job in early November before getting a win over (irony) Memphis.

Both seemingly solidified their jobs this week. The Grizzlies have won three straight. The Kings almost swept a pair against the Lakers. But all beautiful things die sometime. For Theus, the premature death came Saturday night, as the Knicks waltzed into ARCO Arena and simply destroyed the Kings. Sacramento trailed by 30 in the first half, and it hardly got prettier.

I mentioned Saturday that the Lakers win on Tuesday likely saved Reggie's job this year, barring a basketball apocalypse. Losing to the Knicks by 24 at home, showing little to no defensive effort from the starters and a languid, boring offense -- that's basically basketball apocalypse. Earlier today, I discussed a wrinkle in Theus' job security: Eddie Jordan, believed to be a top preference of Kings GM Geoff Petrie, is getting interest from Philadelphia. Petrie isn't one to rush into action, but after losing Stan Van Gundy two years ago I wouldn't be surprised if he went rash all of a sudden.

The logistics of a Theus sacking remain difficult, as it appears the team won't make a move today. The Kings play Minnesota at home Monday before leaving for a road trip which will take us to Christmas. The team has a spell of four games in five nights between the holidays. On paper, Theus survives another few weeks. But I find it hard to believe Petrie (who has the call on the coach's tenure; the Maloofs have OKed it, apparently) can stand to watch basketball like this much longer.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that while the 76ers indicated Tony DiLeo would be running the show for the remainder of the year following the firing of Mo Cheeks as coach, there's a possibility the team could bring in Eddie Jordan to take over soon.

Jordan has history with Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski: Jordan was a top assistant in New Jersey under Byron Scott and Lawrence Frank before taking the helm of the Wiz while Stefanski worked under N.J. GM Rod Thorn.

Jordan, the first coach canned this season, is an offensive-minded fellow. Philadelphia's major problem is ... offense. I think we all see where this is headed. But will the Sixers make the move during the season, and is Jordan ready to get back under the burning, abusive magnifying glass? Here's Ivan Carter of the Washington Post: