No more rookies, no more neophytes, no more mistakes.

Geoff Petrie and the Maloofs need to find the right guy this time. There will be qualified, experienced, proven NBA head-coaching candidates out there. It's time to attract one, sign him to a multi-year contract and put an end to the Kings' chronic coaching charade. Common sense and due diligence are vital. This ongoing inability to secure an established head coach is as crippling as drafting lottery busts in consecutive years.

Who pours cheap oil into a Mercedes, then wonders why the engine stalls? Right. The Kings. The Petrie/Maloofs consortium fired Rick Adelman too late -- long after his players had stopped responding -- or too early, releasing him only after Ron Artest revived the franchise and the head coach. It hired Eric Musselman without calling his former boss, Golden State general manager Chris Mullin. It became infatuated with the charming, persistent Theus, ignoring his lack of NBA coaching bona fides and then failing to insist that he add a former head coach to his staff.

Together, the Kings' braintrust was blinded by friendship and/or charisma, was fooled into a false sense of stability when it should have been expanding its sources and collecting resumes. Consider that at various times during the dalliances with Adelman, Musselman and Theus, the following coaches were available: Phil Jackson. Larry Brown. Flip Saunders. Scott Skiles. Rick Carlisle. Don Nelson. Bernie Bickerstaff. Del Harris. Jeff Van Gundy.

A fairly impressive list, even without Gregg Popovich or Red Auerbach, don't you think? Nonetheless, two factors are preventing the Kings' situation from being a complete and utter embarrassment. First, the improving salary cap situation, coupled with the presence of promising youngsters Spencer Hawes, Jason Thompson and a 2009 lottery selection next June, provides an increasingly attractive package for coaching prospects. Secondly, several of those above-mentioned individuals will be on the market next summer and could be joined by others, perhaps George Karl and Byron Scott.

But again, not again. Inexperienced head coaches need not apply. The Kings are in desperate need of tutoring, nurturing, discipline and simplicity. Young coaches invariably make the same mistakes, essentially implementing offenses that would confuse Einstein. Theus was no exception. He lost his job for all the familiar reasons, most notably the lack of a defensive structure and accountability that was worsening as the season progressed, as if that were even possible.

Sure, there were injuries, but where were the loose balls? The long rebounds? Where was the ball movement, the faster pace, and most damaging, the energy and effort the Kings sustained throughout Theus' first season? On too many occasions this year, Reggie was the only one breaking a sweat. As the double-digit defeats and blowout homecourt losses continued, and the locker room starting to splinter, Theus' demise became inevitable; the only issue was timing.

"Sometimes you've got to do something to stop the slide," said Petrie, referring to the 10 losses in 11 games. "Sometimes that means you need a new voice. You might as well move on. After 24 games, we tried to find some ongoing level of improvement at either end of the floor. But then you come back to the reality, and we're on pace to win less than 20 games, to go 14-44 for the rest of the year. We're playing at the pace of an expansion team, and I don't think you can accept that."

No, you can't.

Call The Bee's Ailene Voisin, (916) 321-1208.