Two things to follow up on.
1. Even assuming JC is back, I would bet that Blaney retires after this season. I would bet that JC has changed his mind as to whether George can be the HC when he's out and that someone else currently on the staff will have that responsbility next year.
2. Look at the play by play from the last two games. AO was on the bench the entire run Syracuse put on us in the first half Saturday night, and was on the bench when we went from about 12 up to 5 down tonight. In this 0-2 stretch, I'd be surprised if AO's plus/minus wasn't at least a plus 20. I don't know why he doesn't grab the boards he did last year (well, I know some of it), but this team has played much better with him on the floor than the bench for a while now. And we don't collapse when he's on the damn floor.