Does Vietnam have a basketball team/players?

[incredibleSE]

I've also been trying to research information on the basketball scene in Vietnam. There seems to be no true professional league. The national team seems to be a squad thrown together with the top amateur players in the country. I 'd love to see Vietnam develop their Basketball program more. Heck, I 'd love to take part in developing Vietnam's Basketball program. I finish up my masters in sports management soon and wouldn't turn down a trip to go back to Vietnam to coach.

[yanix]

i'm still hoping Vietnam will compete in the SEABA championship this year
and i hope all SEA team will equal as RP team in term of quality...

[incredibleSE]

Looks like someone in Vietnam is finally stepping up to promote the game in Vietnam. Big ups to Saigon Sports Academy for having the balls to place a team in Saigon, not knowing if there will be any type of support for them. I've been looking all over the internet and there is very little talk about the team.. embarrassing. But give it time. I'm sure the game will grow wildly as Saigon Heat gets a couple seasons under its belt.

[adude2011]

I haven't followed Asian Int'l ball in a while, but just curious if the Vietnamese even have an International team...if so, how have they progressed over the past 10yrs? Thanks.

[DarknessFalls]

Vietnamese do have a National Team but I don't think they're very good. A few years back there was news that the Vietnamese team was going to compete in the Asia Games or something, but because they weren't probably going to win a medal, funding was taken back and they were not sent to play.

Vietnam is currently ranked 96 among FIBA teams.

http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/FIB...84/nfProf.html

Just looking at the junior level, they went 0-5. Their tallest player was around 187cm/6'1" which obviously isn't good enough to compete.

http://nhatrang2011.fibaasia.net/Tea...ls.aspx?id=110

However, Vietnam does allow dual-citizenship now. I suspect that if Vietnam really wants to get better in basketball, they could do something similar to the Philippines, where they give dual-citizenship at a young age thus allowing more "Vietnamese" talent to play for their team.

There's also a team called, Saigon Heat, in the ASEAN league. Outside of the Philippines, doesn't seem like most SouthEast Asians teams have serious potential to breakthrough Asia right now.

http://www.aseanbasketballleague.com/stats/standings
http://www.saigonheat.com/vi

[DarknessFalls]

Here was an article regarding that FIBAU16 championship tournament that they hosted.

http://www.fibaasia.net/InterviewDetails.aspx?id=140

16/10/2011
VIE - Vietnam “excited and nervous” about maiden appearance

NHA TRANG CITY, Vietnam (2nd FIBA Asia U16 Championship): For a team which is not only hosting its first ever FIBA Asia event, but also participating in a FIBA Asia event for the first time, Vietnam exude a level of enthusiasm and effervescence that belies their minnows status.

“We might be new and inexperienced, but we hope to make up for that with our passion, commitment and intensity,” said the coach of Vietnam’s first ever international team Nguyen Thien Son.

Standing at an average height of 177.33 cms, Vietnam bring in the shortest team overall, but “again we will try to make up for our shortcomings with our hard work,” Thien Son said.

“Of course I am proud,” the 30-year-old said of coaching a team from this SEABA nation in their maiden international appearance.

“I’m also equally excited and nervous at the same time,” he said.

“Look, we know our limitations and shortcomings. Therefore I would prefer to play it low,” he said asked about his team’s chances.

“We hope to catch the attention of the sports fans in Vietnam with our performance. From a basketball point of view, I hope this team is a starting point for many more participations,” the coach said during a stretching session on Saturday.

“Considering this is the youngest age group, I knowing many players here are inexperienced, but I have to confess my players are the lowest rung in that factor. Therefore my only message to them has been ‘Let’s give our best. We should not look bad for want of trying.’ I’d like to keep it as simple as that,” Thien Son said.

“We got lucky with the draw, which means we get to play more games against stronger teams,” Thien Son said about being grouped in Group D for the Preliminary Round with Philippines and Indonesia – all three assured of a place in Second Round.

“We love this opportunity. It all depends on how well utilize it,” he said.

Talking about the process of forming the team, Thien Son explained: “We actually have a lot of tournaments for young players in Vietnam. The core of this team was formed from the National U17 games, but we also picked a few others from outside that.”

“It’s not that Vietnamese fans are new to basketball. Games from the NBA are very popular here. It’s time to show them (Vietnamese fans) that even their team is capable of playing good basketball,” Thien Son said.

“Irrespective of the results of the games, I am sure that Vietnamese basketball and its future will be richer by this experience,” he said.

Vietnam open their campaign against Indonesia immediately after the Opening Ceremony.

[rocketstar47]

Vietnam has a team in ABL the Saigon heat

[incredibleSE]

Ecstatic about hearing that almost all of Saigon Heat's home games at Tan Binh Stadium were sellouts! They also had former NBAer Julius Hodge on their squad. There is no where to go but up from their first season!

[Bong Ro Viet Nam]

Professional basketball in Vietnam has not yet developed, but the community of people passionate about basketball players and not so that fewer

Vietnam with Saigon Heat, the first professional team to participate in the professional Southeast Asia (here)

Vietnam was the women's basketball first beach in Tra Vinh held last July (here)

Vietnam has had national championships (here)

Vietnam also has the quality movement tournament for players (here, here, here...)

And more than ever, we (www.bongrovietnam.com) are trying to create what is best for the basketball Vietnam with all what we have: passion, desire and dedication.

Visit www.bongrovietnam.com for updates what the latest basketball Vietnam.

[sinobball]

I checked out your site, even though I cannot understand much, seems to have a lot of content. The fact that your site has 13,000 Facebook followers already speaks of the potential of the sport in Vietnam.

Hope Bóng rổ continues to develop in your country!

[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/celti...nam-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/side...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