The Handle Podcast – Bill Hanzlik: 12/14/15

By Reinis Lacis (@LamarMatic)

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Denver Nuggets lifer Bill Hanzlik joined me for a quick, fun talk about him playing small-ball center for Doug Moe‘s Nuggets of the 1980’s.

Topics discussed in the podcast:

Bill becoming a defensive-minded player at Notre Dame and evolving into a 6-7 forward who would guard centers for Doug Moe in Denver;
Him facing up against the likes of Ralph Sampson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone;
Bill’s game-winner over Sam Perkins in Game 3 of the ’88 Western conference semi-finals after a drive past Roy Tarpley;
Denver’s 1984-85 team, which made it to the conference finals, yet was held back due to injuries to Alex English, Dan Issel, Fat Lever and Calvin Natt;
Doug Moe being great at utilizing the talent he had and bringing the best out of each player;
Moe’s motion offense which had no real plays;
The underrated Alex English and Fat Lever.

The media related to the podcast:

Bill Hanzlik gets out in the transition and sparks a 41-13 2nd quarter to get the Nuggets a huge lead at Utah after they had been down in double digits in the first quarter. Hanzlik was the key guy of that quarter as upon checking in the game he scored 13 points in the first five minutes of quarter number two. There were some cool points in transition by Bill, the highlight of them being his and-1 lay-up over reigning DPOY Mark Eaton. Hanzlik also had 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. November 29, 1985.

A playlist of all of my Alex English highlights.

Fat Lever all over the court of the Chicago Stadium.

A snippet of the interview:

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Thanks to Bill for making time for me amidst his busy schedule!