There was something familiar to me about the Denver Nuggets' decision to fire Jeff Bzdelik and promote Michael Cooper as the interim coach Tuesday. It reminded me of when I became coach of the Seattle SuperSonics more than a decade ago.
The difference is that I took over the Sonics from a distance. I came to Seattle from Real Madrid in Spain, taking over the Sonics' reins in the middle of the 1991-'92 season. That was a different, and difficult challenge. Cooper, though, has been on the bench with Bzdelik, and that's definitely helpful experience.
My advice to Cooper about taking over in-season as an NBA coach can be boiled down to one do and one don't.