Florida State Basketball: Keys for Seminoles against Murray State in Round of 32
3. Tighten the Bench and keep Kabengele on the floor
It has been Florida State philosophy to play a deep bench all season long, usually with ten guys getting playing time in a given game. Now is the time to start to shrink that down. The benefit of playing with a deep bench throughout the season is that your top players have less wear on them come tournament time.
It would not be some huge change in philosophy for Coach Leonard to do this. It would really be the completion of the philosophy. Florida State can afford to go with an eight man rotation against Murray State and keep their top players on the floor.
The rotation should also be tweaked in the case of center Christ Koumadje and Mfiondu Kabengele. Kabengele played like the star he is against Vermont. In only 29 minutes, he went 6-13 from the field with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He went 9-12 from the free throw line. Murray State will be a similar story in terms of having difficulty matching up with the big man, and he can not make them pay if he is not on the court.
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It will affect the playing time of Koumadje as they are not put on the court at the same time, but Kabengele impact is too great. He should be looking at closer to 33 or 34 minutes than 29.