Saben Lee
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Saben Lee
Saben Lee started his second consecutive game tonight, finishing with 19 points and 5 assists on 7-12 shooting. Detroit is not a good team, so it is possible that he will continue to get starts for the near term. But it does appear that he is not overmatched or out of his element.
- underdog74
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Re: Saben Lee
He co-led the team in points and assists. Impressive. I'll admit I thought he was making a mistake by declaring for the draft.
- geeznotagain
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Re: Saben Lee
I am also part of "surprised" group. If I had to make my living as an NBA scout I would be in deep trouble. I would have thought that some other Vandy guys who haven't fared well at the next level were better prospects; e.g., John Jenkins. I would have thought both Jenkins and Lee had a single skill set on offense (though totally different, of course), and neither could play NBA-caliber defense. I haven't seen Lee at all in the NBA, I'm assuming his defense is at least decent? Seems like his size would be a liability.
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Re: Saben Lee
I'm not sure why one would think that Lee would be a liability on defense. Or that Jenkins would be a better prospect. Jenkins was a great college player and tremendously efficient scorer, but was below average in terms of athleticism for his position, and didn't possess any great passing or ball-handling skills. Lee OTOH was a relatively poor three point shooter for us, but had plus handles, fantastic athleticism, decent size for a PG (6'-2") and was a good passer, putting up an over 30% assist rate despite not having any scorers on the team in 2020. I argued at the time that Jenkins would have been well served by playing point for his senior season, to improve his ball-handling and passing skills at the next level. Lee's athleticism resulted in his getting to the free throw line over 200 times and shooting almost 55% from inside the arc despite teams knowing he was going to drive the ball because he shot only 32% from three and the fact that he was by far and away our best offensive threat. While I am surprised at how quickly Lee is experiencing success, I did suggest that Lee might be a better pro prospect than Nesmith last year. An improving three point shot will make him very difficult to guard.geeznotagain wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:34 pm I am also part of "surprised" group. If I had to make my living as an NBA scout I would be in deep trouble. I would have thought that some other Vandy guys who haven't fared well at the next level were better prospects; e.g., John Jenkins. I would have thought both Jenkins and Lee had a single skill set on offense (though totally different, of course), and neither could play NBA-caliber defense. I haven't seen Lee at all in the NBA, I'm assuming his defense is at least decent? Seems like his size would be a liability.
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Re: Saben Lee
It largely depends upon how long Dennis Smith Jr. is out for. Detroit has been clearing up minutes for some talented young players, some of whom they drafted (like Saben or Isaiah Stewart) and some of whom are more like high-profile reclamation projects (Josh Jackson and Smith). But even though Smith will likely get a longer look at the starting spot when he returns, they do like Saben.Jason94 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:08 am Saben Lee started his second consecutive game tonight, finishing with 19 points and 5 assists on 7-12 shooting. Detroit is not a good team, so it is possible that he will continue to get starts for the near term. But it does appear that he is not overmatched or out of his element.
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Re: Saben Lee
Jenkins was a prolific scorer - and had to be to make up for his defense.Jason94 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:51 pm I'm not sure why one would think that Lee would be a liability on defense. Or that Jenkins would be a better prospect. Jenkins was a great college player and tremendously efficient scorer, but was below average in terms of athleticism for his position, and didn't possess any great passing or ball-handling skills.
Average perimeter players routinely had career scoring nights against him.
XCKS often had to assign Jeff Taylor to defend really good opposing guards who were quick because they would eat Jenkins for lunch.
Jenkins was a lights-out shooter and scorer but vastly more of a liability on defense than Saben Lee.
If you could somehow graft Jenkins' shooting onto the rest of Saben Lee's game you would have a Hall of Fame NBA player.
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Re: Saben Lee
I hope he continues to get chances. He played with us for three pretty horrible seasons but never appeared to give up even though some of his teammates appeared to do so in 2019 (as did his coach). He did everything he could to avoid a repeat of the complete disaster that 2019 was in 2020, and earned getting picked in the draft.TwoSaints wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 6:25 pmIt largely depends upon how long Dennis Smith Jr. is out for. Detroit has been clearing up minutes for some talented young players, some of whom they drafted (like Saben or Isaiah Stewart) and some of whom are more like high-profile reclamation projects (Josh Jackson and Smith). But even though Smith will likely get a longer look at the starting spot when he returns, they do like Saben.Jason94 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:08 am Saben Lee started his second consecutive game tonight, finishing with 19 points and 5 assists on 7-12 shooting. Detroit is not a good team, so it is possible that he will continue to get starts for the near term. But it does appear that he is not overmatched or out of his element.
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Re: Saben Lee
Amen!Jason94 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:59 pmI hope he continues to get chances. He played with us for three pretty horrible seasons but never appeared to give up even though some of his teammates appeared to do so in 2019 (as did his coach). He did everything he could to avoid a repeat of the complete disaster that 2019 was in 2020, and earned getting picked in the draft.TwoSaints wrote: ↑Wed Mar 31, 2021 6:25 pmIt largely depends upon how long Dennis Smith Jr. is out for. Detroit has been clearing up minutes for some talented young players, some of whom they drafted (like Saben or Isaiah Stewart) and some of whom are more like high-profile reclamation projects (Josh Jackson and Smith). But even though Smith will likely get a longer look at the starting spot when he returns, they do like Saben.Jason94 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:08 am Saben Lee started his second consecutive game tonight, finishing with 19 points and 5 assists on 7-12 shooting. Detroit is not a good team, so it is possible that he will continue to get starts for the near term. But it does appear that he is not overmatched or out of his element.