2017 VBA season
| Vietnam Basketball Association | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2017 |
| Duration | September 5, 2017 – November 5, 2017 (Regular season) November 8, 2017 – November 12, 2017 (Playoffs) November 19, 2017 – December 3, 2017 (Finals) |
| Games played | 54 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Thang Long Warriors |
| Runners-up | Cantho Catfish |
| Semifinalists | Hanoi Buffaloes Saigon Heat |
| Awards | |
| Domestic MVP |  Tô Quang Trung (Thang Long) |
| International MVP |  Jaywuan Hill (Thang Long) |
| Heritage MVP | Tam Dinh (Cantho) |
← 2016 2018 → | |
The 2017 VBA season was the second season of the Vietnam Basketball Association. The regular season began on September 5, 2017 and end on November 5, 2017. The playoffs began on November 8, 2017 and ended on December 3, 2017, with the Thang Long Warriors beating the Cantho Catfish in 5 games to clinch their first VBA title.[1]
Teams
Venues and locations
Personnel and sponsorship
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cantho Catfish |  Kevin Yurkus |
 Lê Hiếu Thành |
|
| Danang Dragons | Donte' Hill |
Horace Nguyen |
|
| Hanoi Buffaloes | Todd Purves |
Nguyễn Thành Đạt |
Alien Sports |
| Hochiminh Ciy Wings |  Ricky Magallanes |
Triệu Hán Minh |
|
| Saigon Heat | David Singleton |
David Arnold |
|
| Thang Long Warriors | Lee Tao Dana |
 Ryan Le |
Managerial changes
| Team | Outgoing manager | Position in table | Replaced with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hochiminh City Wings |  Mika Turunen |
Pre-season | Ricky Magallanes
|
| Thang Long Warriors | Expansion | Lee Tao Dana
| |
| Saigon Heat |  Anthony Garbelotto |
David Singleton
| |
| Cantho Catfish | David Singleton |
Kevin Yurkus
|
Draft
The Thang Long Warriors selected Justin Young first in the inaugural VBA Heritage Player Draft.[2]
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Nationality[n 1] | Team | School / club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Justin Young | United States
|
Thang Long Warriors | Hochiminh City Wings / Hanoi Buffaloes |
| 1 | 2 | Vincent Nguyen |  Netherlands
|
Hanoi Buffaloes | Den Bosch |
| 1 | 3 | Henry Nguyen | United States
|
Hochiminh City Wings | |
| 2 | 4 | Anthony Vo | United States
|
Hochiminh City Wings | |
| 2 | 5 | Stefan Nguyen |  Sweden
|
Danang Dragons | Danang Dragons / Saigon Heat |
| 2 | 6 | Sang Dinh | United States
|
Cantho Catfish | Cantho Catfish |
| 2 | 7 | Ryan Le | Canada
|
Thang Long Warriors | Saigon Heat |
| 2 | 8 | Ryan Arnold | United States
|
Hanoi Buffaloes | Hanoi Buffaloes |
| 2 | 9 | Jimmy Kien |  Australia
|
Saigon Heat | Danang Dragons |
Import players
Each team is allowed 2 heritage players and 1 foreign player.
| Team | Heritage 1 | Heritage 2 | Foreign |
| Cantho Catfish | Tam Dinh |
Sang Dinh |
DeAngelo Hamilton
|
| Danang Dragons | Horace Nguyen |
Khoa Tran |
Rudolphe Joly
|
| Hanoi Buffaloes | Vincent Nguyen |
Jason Carter
| |
| Hochiminh City Wings | Henry Nguyen |
Bilal Richardson
| |
| Saigon Heat | David Arnold |
Anthony Vo |
Darius Lewis
|
| Thang Long Warriors | Justin Young |
Ryan Le |
Jaywuan Hill
|
Regular season
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | PCT | GB | Qualification | TLW | SGH | CTC | HNB | HCM | DND | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thang Long Warriors | 15 | 12 | 3 | 1160 | 1058 | +102 | .800 | — | Advance to Playoffs | — | 69–66 | 79–67 87-90 |
71–61 80-69 |
56–67 | 96–65 | |
| 2 | Saigon Heat | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1147 | 1084 | +63 | .600 | 3 | 86–78 69-75 |
— | 72–59 62-78 |
84–77 64-72 |
74–79 | 93–78 | ||
| 3 | Cantho Catfish | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1210 | 1151 | +59 | .600 | 3 | 72–74 | 80–85 (OT) | — | 83–86 (OT) | 85–71 99-63 |
76–68 105-99 | ||
| 4 | Hanoi Buffaloes | 15 | 8 | 7 | 1067 | 1049 | +18 | .533 | 4 | 66–71 | 71–72 | 71–79 75-77 |
— | 57–55 65-60 |
66–60 83-61 | ||
| 5 | Hochiminh City Wings | 15 | 5 | 10 | 1041 | 1116 | −75 | .333 | 7 | 71–79 73-84 |
59–67 63-102 |
85–67 | 74–81 | — | 84–63 | ||
| 6 | Danang Dragons | 15 | 2 | 13 | 1045 | 1212 | −167 | .133 | 10 | 64–79 72-82 |
82–72 64-79 |
74–93 | 58–67 | 74–77 63-60 |
— |
Source: vba.vn
Playoffs
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||||
| 1 Thang Long Warriors | 82 | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 57 | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 1 Thang Long Warriors | 78 | 73 | 74 | 79 | 95 | |||||||||
| 3 Cantho Catfish | 83 | 68 | 77 | 64 | 80 | |||||||||
| 2 Saigon Heat | 80 | 68 | ||||||||||||
| 3 Cantho Catfish | 85 | 76 | ||||||||||||
Statistics
Team statistic leaders
| Category | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Cantho Catfish | 79.2 |
| Rebounds per game | Cantho Catfish | 41.0 |
| Steals per game | Cantho Catfish | 11.3 |
| Blocks per game | Cantho Catfish | 4.7 |
| FG% | Cantho Catfish | 0.480 |
| FT% | Hanoi Buffaloes | 0.650 |
| 3FG% | Saigon Heat | 0.310 |
Awards
Yearly awards
- Season MVP: Jaywuan Hill (Thang Long Warriors)
- Season Local MVP: Tô Quang Trung (Thang Long Warriors)
- Season Heritage MVP: Tam Dinh (Cantho Catfish)
- Defensive Player of the Year: DeAngelo Hamilton (Cantho Catfish)
- Youth Man of the Year: Nguyễn Hoàng Tuấn (Danang Dragons)
- Sixth Man of the Year: Nguyễn Huỳnh Hải (Saigon Heat)
- Coach of the Year: Kevin Yurkus (Cantho Catfish)
MVP of the Week
| For week ending | Player | Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2017 | Tam Dinh (1/1) | Cantho Catfish | 1 |
| 17 September 2017 | DeAngelo Hamilton (1/2) | Cantho Catfish | |
| 24 September 2017 | Lê Ngọc Tú (1/1) | Saigon Heat | 3 |
| 1 October 2017 | David Arnold (1/2) | Saigon Heat | 4 |
| 8 October 2017 | Vincent Nguyen (1/1) | Hanoi Buffaloes | 5 |
| 15 October 2017 | DeAngelo Hamilton (2/2) | Cantho Catfish | 6 |
| 22 October 2017 | David Arnold (2/2) | Saigon Heat | 7 |
| 29 October 2017 | Jaywuan Hill (1/2) | Thang Long Warriors | 8 |
| 5 November 2017 | Jaywuan Hill (2/2) | Thang Long Warriors | 9 |
Notable occurrences
- The VBA held their annual tryouts for players of Vietnamese heritage at Hope International University in Fullerton, CA on May 6–7, 2017.[3]
- The Thang Long Warriors became the league's 6th franchise.[4]
- On May 19, the Saigon Heat and head coach Anthony Garbelotto mutually agreed to terminate his contract after a disappointing season with the ASEAN Basketball League team.[5]
- On June 14, the inaugural VBA Draft was held in HCMC for unsigned heritage players from the 2016 season and selects from the US tryouts.[2]
- The first ever trade in league history happened on June 28 with the Hochiminh City Wings trading the draft rights for Jimmy Kien to the Saigon Heat for the draft rights for Anthony Vo.[6]
Notes
References
- ^ "Thang Long Warriors take VBA second season trophy". vietnamnews.vn. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Shock picks made on Vietnam Basketball Association's Draft Day". vnexpress.net. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ "Vietnam Basketball Association (VBA) to organize tryout for Vietnamese heritage player in the USA this May". vba.vn. Retrieved 4 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The sixth VBA team Thang Long Warriors just revealed their logo". aseansports.com. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
- ^ "Coach Anthony Garbelotto and Saigon Heat decided not to renew the contract". aseansports.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
- ^ "Saigonheat.com". Archived from the original on 2017-11-07.