Long Beach State Sports : Re: Weird situation with Shaq Bender

Get rid of him today. He is doing nothing for the team and they don't need this kind of me player on this team. See ya Shaq.

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Bender was 0 for 2 last night and played only 2 min. He is listed as a graduate senior, so this is his last gig in college sports. For the season so far, his fg % is 37.7%, and from the 3-point line he's shooting 29.4%. Bender has taken the 3rd most 3s on the team behind Sykes 121 3s at 38% and Petar 69 3s at 37.7%.

Other stats I see today.
Lewis FG 31.5% 3pt shots 23.3% 49 assists
Leo FG 53.15 and no 3s. He knows his role.
Diaz FG 44.3% 3s 35.6% 64 assists
Farrell 22.6% from 3s

Previous Message

Shaq Bender appeared to be upset about something during the first TV timeout in the second half tonight. DMX and Christian Jones were trying to tone the situation down. But it didn't work, and Bender was walked off the court to the locker room by an assistant coach. He never came back.

I don't want to presume what happened. But Bender took two really bad shots in the first half, then never got back in the game...Even as our offense floundered. If I had to guess, he was upset about not playing. But I don't know, and don't want to assign that emotion to him unfairly.

Either way, just sharing here in case anyone knows anything. Hope he's doing OK. But also — being that type of distraction when your team is fighting in a tough conference road game is a bad look.