Jim Line's Friday 5 Most Important Things

Today we learned of the passing of Jim Line, one of the members of the legendary eras of Kentucky basketball. Line was part of the 1948 and 1949 National Championship Teams and was the Sixth Man on the legendary “Fabulous Five.” That group, that then went on to represent the United States at the Olympics, is known as one of the 5 best UK teams of all time and Line was the quick guard who came off the bench to add instant offense. His career continued to improve after the national title teams and in 1950, he was a 3rd Team All American and 1st Team All-SEC player. Line was also one of the oldest players to ever play for Kentucky, suiting up for the Cats after serving in the US Military. He began his playing career at the age of 22 and finished at 26. During his time at UK, he was also roommates with one Joe B Hall. He died at the age of 87, after a battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Our thoughts are with his family and I hope everyone will take a second to take a look at his bio on Jon Scott’s page and learn a bit about a great Kentucky name of the past.

As we head into another big UK sports weekend, here are the Five Most Important Things currently on the agenda in the UK Sports World

1. Can UK Find a Consistent Offense?:

The Alabama loss has put UK fans in a state of negativity that we haven’t really seen since the calamitous final year of the Billy Gillispie era. While struggles should have been expected this season, the loss to Alabama after a comfortable lead, coupled with the earlier slip-up at home versus Texas A&M has some in Big Blue Nation panicked. I am not yet one of those doomsdayers, but it is very clear that UK needs to find an offensive identity. Defensively this team is still very good. They held a great shooting Alabama team to 36%, won the rebounding battle by 12 (although gave up some key ones down the stretch) and their defensive efficiency numbers are such that they still are Top 20 in KenPom’s overall team rankings. However offensively, this team simply cannot find a consistent way to play. The problems are many, but they basically boil down to this. Only Archie Goodwin has shown an ability to consistently break down people off the dribble and his decision making has been so poor, that teams all attack his penetration with no worry that he will kick to an open man. Ryan Harrow has the quickness to get to the rim, but not necessarily the strength to finish and Alex Poythress has yet to be even close to the level of aggressiveness this team needs. Thus UK can’t find a way to play the style of penetration/dribble-drive/kickout and lob basketball that Calipari likes to play. What has seemed to work has been the utilization of Kyle Wiltjer as the offensive centerpiece. Whether allowing him to play the two-man game with another guard, or post-up smaller defenders on the block, against Tennessee and Alabama, the offense worked best when the ball was in his hands. The 15 minute dead offensive stretch that doomed UK occurred when the Cats got away from that game plan. LSU will be an interesting test…do they go back to Kyle as the offensive standard bearer, with slashers Goodwin/Harrow and Poythress, combined with a spot-up shooting Julius Mays and Noel on the glass? Or can they change the playing style of Goodwin to make the preferred style work? We shall see.

In between the five points, some pictures from the week, starting with this heartwarming shot of Nerlens Noel volunteering again at the Special Olympics:

2. Will the Cats Make the Tournament?

Every Kentuckian has become an expert Bracketologist this week, as opinions have become strong on whether UK will make the Tournament. I was invited by the NCAA to come to Indianapolis on Feb 14-15 to do their “Media Mock Selection” Group and learn how the NCAA Tournament bracket is made. As a bracket dork, I am very excited. But until then, I think it is fair to say that next week is huge for UK’s chances. Win the two road games versus Ole Miss and Texas A&M and the Cats are probably in solid shape for the Tourney. Lose both and it is hard to envision a slot on Selection Sunday. Split, and we are right back to the unknown place we are in right now. In my view, if Kentucky finishes 13-5 in conference, they are most certainly in (that would probably put them in 2nd or 3rd overall in SEC). Louisville last year was a 4 seed with nine losses, and while they had more quality wins, a 9 loss SEC team with the name Kentucky, in my view, is solidly in the field. Six or Seven conference losses and things get iffy. If you beat Ole Miss and A&M, then you could still lose both games to Florida AND drop another random game (at Ark, at Tenn possibly) and still get in comfortably. Lose both games and you can lose at Florida but have ZERO other slip-ups…AND you must beat the Gators in Rupp. That isn’t a task you want to have for your tournament fate. Split the games, and we simply push the ball further down the hill. Losing to Alabama didn’t make the NCAA Tournament unlikely for UK (as the Big Lead showcased yesterday), but it did make next week’s games crucial.

Here by the way, is the picture of the UK fan who wore ORANGE to the Texas A&M game and sat directly behind the bench. We don’t have her face, but people, please don’t let this happen again or we will publicly call you out. It’s Gameday…you can wear blue:

3. Doing Your Duty for Commonwealth

The push for the Commonwealth Stadium Renovation Plan is still strong and it looks as if Kentucky will finally get the football funding that it needs. However the folks at UK are leaving no stone unturned. So as part of the @BBNUnited Campaign, they are asking people to contact their legislators and tell them they support the UK plan. The funding request allows for renovation to Commonwealth Stadium, a new state of the art Science building and renovation to the Business and Economics building. Now you may ask, who the heck is my legislator? Or better yet, what if I don’t care who my legislator is and I just want to write someone to tell them my feelings? Well I am here to help. You can find your legislator here:

Kentucky Senate Members

Kentucky House Members

Find yours, or if you are from out of state, just pick one randomly and say hello and tell them you support the project. We here at KSR are getting on the fun by highlighting one Legislator every day for a spotlight and a request to contact. There is no rhyme or reason to who we pick, although ability to find a suitable size picture of them (preferably funny) is crucial. Lets begin today with SENATOR ERNIE HARRIS

Senator Harris represents the great counties of Carroll, Henry, Oldham, Trimble and a part of Jefferson County (which part no one knows). His award presenting skills suggest a man who is serious about his job, but his mustache suggests a man who also knows how to party. He is a Republican who calls himself in his bio, a pilot, a farmer and a Southern Baptist. He has won many awards, including one called the “Kentucky Staffing Services Association Taxpayers Best Friend.” I have no idea what that is, but since it is very long, it must be important and who can dislike any person who is someone’s best friend. Ernie Harris seems like just the kind of guy who would like football renovation doesn’t he? Well let Ernie know yourself. You can click on his legislative page here or email him by clicking here. Send Ernie a note and over the next few weeks, we will introduce other members to you, their constituents.

I like Glen Campbell. “Rhinestone Cowboy,” “Galveston” and “Wichita Lineman” are classic American songs. His DUI mugshot was bizarre, but that doesn’t change the way the man can croon. He is apparently very sick, but he is still finding time to represent the Big Blue:

4. Former Florida Commit Considering Kentucky

Another HUGE football recruiting weekend is on the horizon (Rashawn will be along tomorrow with news on who is visiting), but today we found out that one visitor Florida commit James Hearns, is now no longer committed to the Gators. Hearns is a HUGE talent, who is considered one of the 25 best Linebackers in America and is ranked as one of the Top 250 players overall. The four star Hearns had offers from LSU, Florida and Notre Dame before committing to the Gators and now word is that he favors Kentucky if the visit goes well. There is a grade issue with Hearns that makes it unclear if he will qualify and this may be what scared Florida away and led to the decommitment. But I am told that he may still get eligible and if he does and Kentucky lands him, it would be one of the better out of state recruits in UK history, all in Mark SToops’ first 60 days. He is doing things in recruiting that I simply haven’t seen here and you have to be impressed. All the football recruits will be at the LSU game and fans should expect to welcome them to the Bluegrass.

We get lots of pictures of UK fans around the world, but this picture of two UK fans at the Equator in Uganda takes the cake because of the most awesome kid ever:

5. Can Kentucky Hold Off Out-of-State Powers for Ky Kids?

As the UK football recruiting blitz comes into its final two weeks, a storyline is emerging. Kentucky is going after two HIGH recruits from the state, Jason Hatcher and Ryan Timmons. They are 2 of the 3 best players from the state (James Quick committed to Louisville is the other) and both would be HUGE gets for UK. The Cats have a legitimate shot at both but now out of state schools are putting on a press. Hatcher is a 4 star Trinity DE who was originally committed to USC, but on Tuesday he announced that he no longer was committed via Twitter. Seeing that, USC flew across the country and visited him tonight, and Hatcher then deleted that tweet. So what now? Will USC keep him? Will Louisville get their home city player? Or will he shock the world and pick the Cats? Before tonight, I REALLY liked UK’s position. Now we will have to see if today’s visit changed anything. As for Timmons, he cancelled a visit to Ohio State last weekend, making Kentucky seem like a the most plausible pick. But now we find out that Florida has made a late run (recruited by Joker Phillips) and Ohio State has changed its mind and is now offering him. So can the speedy Franklin County star turn down two national powers for the Big Blue? Mark Stoops and Neal Brown met with Timmons today and they really want him. And both Timmons and Hatcher would play right away in Lexington. But getting them to turn down 3 of the 5 most high profile national schools (with Bama and Notre Dame the others), will be tough. I liked Kentucky to get both Hatcher and Timmons on Tuesday. Now the difficulty has been added, but the reward will still be high.

Before we go, two pictures to finish you off with. My alma mater Middlesboro High School was in the Class A Tournament tonight versus Owen County and at the time of this writing, the game had not completed. But I did get sent this team picture, showcasing one of Middlesboro’s starters supporting a mohawk. Get em Jackets!

And if you heard the radio show today, you heard about a movie called “Nearly Dead” starring out own Radio Ron as a member of a Nursing Home foursome who have to save the world from attack by zombies(a great premise for a movie). The IMDB page for the movie is here and someone sent me a picture of the four main actors, including Radio Ron on set. I wish I could see this movie:

That is all for now…it was an old-school, goofy, way too long post from me. I will be back tomorrow for radio. See you then.