Bill Ficke is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and scout. Before the 1982–83 season, Ficke hired by the Denver Nuggets of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA) to be an assistant coach. He returned to the team for the

1983–84 NBA season The 1983–84 NBA season was the 38th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Los Angeles Lakers 4 games to 3 for the second time since 1969 in the NBA Fi ...

. ''

Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in Denver, Colorado. As of June 2022, it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 ...

'' sports writer Terry Frei recalled that Ficke would bring his

golden retriever The Golden Retriever is a Scottish breed of retriever dog of medium size. It is characterised by a gentle and affectionate nature and a striking golden coat. It is commonly kept as a pet and is among the most frequently registered breeds ...

to practice with him. Ficke served as head coach of the Nuggets during a game against the Phoenix Suns on March 22, 1983 because Denver head coach

Doug Moe Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988. Ea ...

was out with influenza. Denver won the game 131–117 with Nuggets forward Kiki Vandeweghe, who led all scorers with 29. Moe was suspended for ordering the Nuggets to not play defense during a game against the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

on November 22, 1983. As a result, Ficke was forced to serve as head coach of the team during their next two games on November 30 and December 3. Denver lost the first game against the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

, 156–115. Ficke was dismissed from his position of assistant coach of the Denver Nuggets by general manager

Vince Boryla Vincent Joseph Boryla (March 11, 1927 – March 27, 2016) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. His nickname was "Moose". He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School in 1944. He played basketball at the University of N ...

in July 1984.

Allan Bristow Allan Mercer Bristow, Jr. (born August 23, 1951) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. Bristow played college basketball at Virginia Tech, and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of ...

succeeded Ficke as Denver's assistant coach. During the

1984–85 NBA season The 1984–85 NBA season was the 39th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Boston Celtics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The 19 ...

Ficke served as a scout for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

, Indiana Pacers and

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. On July 20, 1985 Ficke was hired by the fledgling

Kansas City Sizzlers The Topeka Sizzlers, originally the Kansas City Sizzlers, were a professional basketball team based in Kansas City, Missouri from 1985 to 1986 until they relocated to Topeka, Kansas where they played from 1986 to 1990. The Sizzlers were members o ...

Continental Basketball Association (CBA) franchise as head coach and director of basketball operations. His contract was not renewed following the Sizzlers 25–23 season.

John Killilea John P. Killilea (June 19, 1928 – January 27, 1996) was an American basketball coach and scout. He served as the assistant coach to four National Basketball Association (NBA) team; the Boston Celtics (1972–77), the Milwaukee Bucks (1977–198 ...

succeeded Ficke as the Sizzlers head coach. In 1975 Ficke opened an independent footwear retail store at the Aurora Mall (now known as Town Center at Aurora) in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe, Adams, and Douglas counties, Colorado, United States. The city's population was 386,261 at the 2020 United States Census with 336,035 residing in Arapahoe County, 47,720 residing in ...

. Initially Ficke was looking for a short-term lease in case the business floundered, however, he ended up taking a 15-year lease. This worked in his favor as his competitor's rent costs increased over the 15-year span. After 20 years Ficke shuttered his "Fleet Feet" retail store. He now operates a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then t ...

Centennial, Colorado Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a part ...

—known as "Big Bill's New York Pizza"—which was opened in 1995. Ficke runs a fundraiser known as the “ 9/11 Day of Giving” in which the proceeds from the pizzeria go to cancer research foundations in Colorado. Ficke and his son, Dan Ficke, run the JoAnn B. Ficke Cancer Foundation which was established following the death of JoAnne Ficke from

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ficke, Bill American basketball scouts Continental Basketball Association coaches Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Indiana Pacers scouts Los Angeles Clippers scouts People from Long Island Living people Year of birth missing (living people)