For sure, Lowe will be the guy in the long run, if/when he returns. And he can help some now. But they need much more on the court in the meantime. And that means guys stepping outside of their comfort zone.

And then what do you do? It’s certainly an intriguing situation. Pope has a lot of folks to keep happy and on the same page.

Absolutely. Kam is clearly a major factor in hitting the ceiling, and building him up now will be crucial. Certainly a role for BG to play on this team, but it’s not looking like that’s going to be the role he had in mind coming into the season. Pope has quite a balancing act on his hands.

I’m hearing a lot of calls for an Aberdeen, Oweh, Chandler, Williams, Dioubate starting five moving forward.

That’s certainly intriguing and might be the best combo of Pope’s comfort zone/what could work against SEC-type teams … but it certainly presents some potential roster issues.

Absolutely no coincidence. My post-Michigan State texts were filled with smart basketball people saying they had to go small ball moving forward. I agree. How Pope does that and still gets BG, Moreno and Mo minutes, I'm still not sure. But it'll be interesting.