Kleine still haunted by Blazers meltdown

July 25, 2012, 5:14 pm

Joe Kleine, a member of the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal basketball team, joined guest host Brian Wheeler on The Bald Faced Truth Wednesday to talk about his experience as a player and coach.

The 1984 team was the last amateur basketball team to win a gold medal. According to Kleine, he can't see it going back to that.

"I think it's going to stay with pros," said Kleine said, noting the possibility of an age limit as a potential way around the current system.

Kleine was also a member of the Blazers during the 1999-00 season, which ended with an infamous fourth-quarter debacle that eliminated the team from the Western Conference Finals.

"It was working like clockwork for three quarters," Kleine said. "That's the beauty of basketball, man it can change on a dime. And boy it sure did."

Kleine is currently an assistant coach for the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, helping the team to an NCAA tournament berth in 2011. Listen to the interview: