Does Vietnam have a basketball team/players?

[mcruic]

As nobody seems to know much about Vietnam's national team, here is a list of their results since 2000 (in reverse order). They've played 26 matches from 2001-2011, winning 2 and losing 24.

2011 SEA Games in Indonesia
Lost (48-91) v Singapore
Won (78-57) v Cambodia
Lost (53-107) v Philippines
Lost (54-85) v Thailand

2005 SEABA Championship in Malaysia
Lost (50-110) v Indonesia
Lost (67-97) v Singapore
Lost (74-116) v Thailand
Lost (47-98) v Malaysia

2003 SEA Games in Vietnam
Lost (71-103) v Thailand
Lost (58-77) v Singapore
Lost (53-117) v Philippines
Lost (62-91) v Indonesia
Lost (56-98) v Malaysia

2003 SEABA Championship in Malaysia
Lost (77-81) v Thailand
Lost (48-99) v Philippines
Lost (70-95) v Malaysia

2001 SEA Games in Malaysia
Lost (73-76) v Indonesia
Lost (56-63) v Thailand
Lost (62-87) v Singapore
Lost (40-100) v Philippines
Lost (40-101) v Malaysia

2001 SEABA Championship in Philippines
Lost (59-73) v Malaysia
Won (81-47) v Brunei
Lost (62-90) v Singapore
Lost (46-130) v Philippines
Lost (72-81) v Malaysia

The women's national team has played 14 matches in the same period, and has played against non-SEA teams. They have won 2 and lost 12 (wins came against Sri Lanka and Singapore, both in the 2007 Asian Championship in South Korea).

[bballcrazy]

Vietnam has 90 million people, that is HUGE and if everyone was interested in Basketball they will be good too...

[DarknessFalls]

There's Youtube videos about the Saigon Heat, including videos of full games. The roster lists only 4 Vietnamese national players, with the rest being Americans and Filipino nationals.

[DarknessFalls]

[DarknessFalls]

It appears now that even the NBA has branched out to the basketball youth in Vietnam.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4713210/olynyk-visiting-vietnam-for-jr-nba

Kelly Olynyk of the Boston Celtics will be in Ho Chi Minh City to participate in the Jr. NBA Vietnam 2014 presented by Dutch Lady National Training Camp to help coach participants from all over the country vying to become Jr. NBA Vietnam All-Stars. The National Training Camp will be held at Ton Duc Thang University from June 13-15.

“I am excited to be involved with the Jr. NBA program because it not only provides top quality basketball instruction, but also teaches valuable life skills that are important off the court,” said Olynyk. “The participants have worked hard to earn their spots at the National Training Camp and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share my skills and knowledge with them.”

The National Training Camp is the culmination of the Jr. NBA Vietnam 2014 presented by Dutch Lady program, providing the top 40 boys and top 24 girls the opportunity to train with and compete against their peers. The top participants were selected from the standout performers at the Selection Camp in May. At the end of the National Training Camp, 10 boys and 4 girls will be named as the inaugural Jr. NBA Vietnam All-Stars. These select campers will be rewarded with a unique NBA experience and the opportunity to play against a counterpart team from another country later in the year.

http://jrnba.asia/vietnam/

https://www.facebook.com/JrNBAVietnam

Very nice of the Boston Celtics, Kelly Olynyk, to travel all the way to Vietnam for this.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar/kelly-olynyks-vietnam-travel-journal

The highlight of the day was a few things, probably getting to see the kids in action and seeing how talented and eager they were. It was very interesting to see how much the loved to play basketball and how excited they were to play the game, and I think some of that is lost in the American tradition where everyone is pushed to play, rather than these kids view it as a privilege to play.

went to the gym this morning and saw the kids working out, training. I talked to them a little bit about training hard, controlling what they can control, not worrying about their size or their speed, but focusing on their talents, their abilities and being able to harness them and use them to their strengths rather than focusing on what they don’t have.

[Williams489]

Vietnam is joining ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), with the name Saigon Heat. But Vietnamese players are almost on the bench, starters are 5 foreigners.

[Sajjatam.k]

The Saigon Heat just finished the ABL as the 4th in standings and lost in the semi finals of the playoffs to the KL Dragons. Their starters are Foreigners, with the starting shooting guard David Arnold being half vietnamese.

The marketing team and Saigon Heat organization have done a great job to promote their team and get the kids and people in to basketball.

[anthoang]

The coach of the Saigon Heat recently died in vietnam (or got killed) and was a featured story on ESPN.com.

Nevertheless, the Saigon Heat as proven that basketball can be popular in Vietnam. The biggest crowds in the ASEAN league are in Saigon(HCM city).

With this success, there will be a professional basketball league in Vietnam starting 2016!!!!

The league will be called the Vietnam Basketball Association(VBA). It is started by billionaire Henry Nguyen, who is part owner of the new expansion MLS franchise in Los Angeles.

[digitalsuperman]

The coach of the Saigon Heat recently died in vietnam (or got killed) and was a featured story on ESPN.com.

Nevertheless, the Saigon Heat as proven that basketball can be popular in Vietnam. The biggest crowds in the ASEAN league are in Saigon(HCM city).

With this success, there will be a professional basketball league in Vietnam starting 2016!!!!

The league will be called the Vietnam Basketball Association(VBA). It is started by billionaire Henry Nguyen, who is part owner of the new expansion MLS franchise in Los Angeles.

that is very good news!! this will help a lot in developing hoops in vietnam. will the league become a home-away type of tournament? i hope vietnam participates more on U16 and U18 SEABA Tournaments to develop younger players.

[omaichotnho]

more information basketball in hanoi and saigon vietnam at link vietnamonline . com/az/basketball.html

[ctongco]

With close proximity to the Philippines and China, it would be beneficial for Vietnam to have training camps in either or both countries.

[bballcrazy]

http://www.vba.vn/en/vba-en-2016/

[TrueBluePinoy]

60 games with only 6 teams?

[bballcrazy]

60 games with only 6 teams?

That means each team plays the 5 different teams twice home and twice away. I am more worried about the quality of play though, I think the level of a viet pro team w/o world import = to a good high school team in the phil. If they have the budget they should add two more optional asian imports. So their starters can at least be high quality. 1 world 2 asian and 2 viet heritage.

[Coach Myke Nguyen]

Great job finding all these players profile. Keep up the good work of helping to promote basketball in Vietnam. Best regards, Coach Myke Nguyen (Vietnam Basketball Academy)