Nuggets Quickly Oust Hanzlik

Bill Hanzlik’s first season as coach of the Denver Nuggets was one of the worst in NBA history. There won’t be a second.

Denver fired Hanzlik on Monday, one day after completing an 11-71 season, leaving the Nuggets rebuilding again and looking for its eighth coach this decade.

For almost the entire season, the Nuggets were a threat to surpass the league’s worst all-time record--9-73 by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

They managed to avoid that dubious record by two games and they did it with rookies and journeymen.

Hanzlik, 40, who has two years remaining on the contract he signed before the season, won’t be around for the next effort at rebuilding, after being dismissed along with assistants T.R. Dunn and Brian Winters.

“The Nuggets franchise must move forward and put this disappointing season behind,” Vice President and General Manager Dan Issel said.

Issel’s hiring, on March 25, seemed to seal Hanzlik’s fate. Issel replaced Allan Bristow, who had hired Hanzlik.

“Bill Hanzlik is a good man,” Issel said. “Bill Hanzlik was basically thrown into a no-win situation. Is it fair? Probably not.”

There has been speculation that the team would try to draw a big-name coach--George Karl and Phil Jackson have been mentioned--to turn the team around.

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The Miami Heat pulled the plug on the season for Brent Barry, leaving the guard who was supposed to provide additional outside scoring off their 12-man playoff roster.

Meanwhile, forward Jamal Mashburn appears to be healthy, returning Sunday to score 10 points and grab three rebounds in a loss to Atlanta. He had missed 31 games after breaking his thumb.

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Center Patrick Ewing was added to the playoff roster by the New York Knicks, even though they don’t expect him to be available until the second round.

“The first round is out,” General Manager Ernie Grunfeld said. “There’s no telling when he’ll be ready. He may be ready in a week or two--or in two months. It all depends when he gets medical clearance. We’re not counting on him for the first round.”

Ewing has been sidelined since Dec. 20 because of a broken right wrist.

The Knicks also included Chris Dudley on their roster. The backup center suffered a broken leg on Feb. 24.

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Charlotte Hornet guard Vernon Maxwell, hoping to be freed for the playoffs, must remain in jail on a marijuana conviction, a judge ruled in Houston.

State District Judge Jay Burnett denied Maxwell’s claim that he received ineffective counsel when he pleaded no contest to marijuana possession in 1995.

Regardless of the outcome of another appeal today, Maxwell will be ineligible for the playoffs since the Hornets left him off their 12-man roster.

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All-star center Jayson Williams is still uncertain for the New Jersey Nets’ first-round playoff series starting Friday against the Chicago Bulls.

Williams, who has not played since breaking his right thumb on March 27, insists he will play.

The final say will probably come from Dr. Charles Melone Jr., a New York hand specialist, who was expected to look at X-rays of Williams’ thumb today.

Williams isn’t the only injured Net. Starting point guard Sam Cassell, who missed Sunday’s regular-season finale, is day-to-day after suffering a groin injury last week.

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Injuries that have plagued the Houston Rockets throughout the regular season will follow them into the playoffs.

Charles Barkley, who has been slowed by a hernia much of the season, will be on the playoff roster for Thursday’s Game 1 against the Utah Jazz, but he’s not sure of his effectiveness.

Hakeem Olajuwon and Brent Price also sat out Sunday’s regular-season finale because of knee problems but they expect no problems for the playoffs.