(From the diaries. I moved the poll to the front page, as well. -TZ)

Last night, I was taking a gander at the list of candidates TZ posted back on 5/9:

John Whisenant. Blood will flow in the streets of Natomas if this actually happens.

Terry Porter. According to Lance from BlazersEdge, the ownership bid for the Portland franchise is dead.

Eddie Jordan. Though the Washington Post is reporting that there hasn't been any calls made to the Wizards. That doesn't stop Jordan's agent from calling, though.

P.J. Carlesimo. This dude wants this job bad. Apparently, he's gotten past his nightmares of Spree.

Don Nelson. Marc Stein went ahead and called the Maloofs for him.

Stan Van Gundy. The Hedgehog knows he can contend with this roster.

Eric Musselman. He wants a top job badly. Can't blame him.

Jeff Bzdelik. This guy just wants a job. Period.

Mark Iavaroni. My darkhorse, though no one has mentioned him yet. People forget that he almost got the Portland job last season before Nate McMillan broke off talks with Seattle. Mark Iavaroni should not be slept on!

Obviously, this list did not include Larry Brown, who is rumored to be the next coach removed by the braintrust (I use that term loosely) of James Dolan and Isaiah Thomas.

If you listen to the Rise Guys, you know that the Kings fan base is overwhelmingly anti-Larry Brown.  He's been paid off to leave at his last two jobs, he's old and his health might not hold up, Ron-Ron and Bonzi will rebel against his rigid coaching style - and this is just a small sampling of the negative reaction.

Those are fair criticisms all, yet I look at the list above and I see lots of warts.  You have your very risky (unproven) choices (Whisenant, Musselman, Bzdelik, and Iavaroni), you've got a couple of retreads (Nelson and Carlesimo), one coach who would rather be an owner (Porter), and one not-necessarily-defense-minded coach who is currently under contract (Jordan).

In my mind, that leaves two choices - Van Gundy (Stan only please) and Larry Brown.  Fact is, I would be pretty happy with either choice, and would lean toward SVG since he would be a solid long-term solution.

If no SVG, you'd have to look at Larry Brown as a viable candidate.

So take the poll (which is now on the frontpage -TZ), let's see where the SacTown Royalty community stands!