Coach Cooper is ready to get rolling as the interim coach in Denver. "I've said from Day One coming here that this is a championship-caliber team," he said. "We just have to get after it now."

Coop believes that his WNBA experience will help him. "Coaching is coaching, whether it's high school, junior high school (or) college," he said. "Getting to learn my craft at that level was great, and hopefully I can use that experience that I had there here."

The players respect Coop, but probably more for his rings with the Lakers than for his rings with the Sparks. "He's been around," Kenyon Martin said. "Guys know him. Guys respect him."

Back home in LA, everyone from the Lakers-Sparks organization sang his praises yesterday. "We are very pleased for this opportunity for Michael to be a head coach in the NBA," said Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "We are particularly pleased that his experience and success with the Sparks has helped bring this about. He has worked hard to prepare himself."

Some were surprised that Coop only got the interim tag. Denver Post columnist Mark Kiszla suggests that Coop will only be around till someone better comes along. And with several top coaches -- including George Karl, Phil Jackson, and Del Harris -- on the market, Coop's job may not be 100% secure.

Kiki will wait to see how Coop deals with the players, especially the Nuggets' petulant young star Carmelo Anthony. If Michael can convince Carmelo to play some defense, it will be a minor miracle, and Coop will deserve to lose the interim label.

Some are already certain that Coop is the best man for the permanent job. "They're not going to find anybody better now than Coop," said Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo, a Miami Heat assistant. "He was always very professional as a player and he got to the top of the mountain. He's also been there in the WNBA. You can say it's coaching women, but that was a great experience."

UPDATE: will this start a trend?