Vietnam Basketball Association
Season2020
Duration15 October 2020 – 20 November 2020 (Regular season)
24 November 2020 - 27 November 2020 (Playoffs semi-finals)
2 December 2020 - 8 December 2020 (Finals)
Number of games50
Number of teams7
Regular season
Top seedSaigon Heat
Season MVPUnited States Robert Crawford (Thang Long Warriors)
Finals
ChampionsSaigon Heat
  Runners-upThang Long Warriors
SemifinalistsCantho Catfish
Hanoi Buffaloes
Finals MVPUnited States Joshua Keyes (Saigon Heat)
Statistical leaders
Points United States Robert Crawford (Thang Long Warriors) 26.6
Rebounds United States Leon Hampton (Cantho Catfish) 22.2
Assists United States Christian Juzang (Saigon Heat) 5.8
Records
Biggest home win102-60
Biggest away win59-90
Winning streak7 (Saigon Heat)
Losing streak5 (Hochiminh City Wings)
← 2019
2021 →

The 2020 VBA season was the fifth season of the Vietnam Basketball Association. The season was scheduled to start in May[1] but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The regular season began on 15 October 2020 and ended on 20 November. The playoffs semi-finals began on 24 November 2020 and ended on 28 November 2020. The Finals began on 2 December 2020 and ended on 8 December 2020 with the Saigon Heat defeating the Thang Long Warriors after 4 games.

Teams

Venues and locations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all games will be played in a bubble in Ho Chi Minh City. A stadium, nicknamed the VBA Arena, was constructed in Studio S4 on the campus of ZoOm Media.

Personnel and sponsorship

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer
Cantho Catfish United States Jordan Collins Actee
Danang Dragons Vietnam Phan Thanh Cảnh Actee
Hanoi Buffaloes Mexico Eric Weissling Actee
Hochiminh City Wings Lithuania Gediminas Meiliunas Actee
Nha Trang Dolphins United States Ryan Marchand Actee
Saigon Heat United States Kevin Yurkus Hemero
Thang Long Warriors Serbia Predrag Lukic Actee

Heritage players

The following is the list of Vietnamese heritage players, which had played for their respective teams at least once. Each team can register 1 heritage player. Flags indicate the citizenship/s the player holds.

Club Heritage Former Heritage
Cantho Catfish United States Tam Dinh
Danang Dragons United States Richard Nguyen United States Chris Dierker
Hanoi Buffaloes United States Sang Dinh
Hochiminh City Wings Netherlands Vincent Nguyen
Nha Trang Dolphins United States Khoa Tran
Saigon Heat United States Christian Juzang
Thang Long Warriors United States Justin Young

Imports

The following is the list of imports, which had played for their respective teams at least once. Each team can register 1 import. Flags indicate the citizenship/s the player holds.

Club Import Former Imports
Cantho Catfish United States Leon Hampton
Danang Dragon United States Tyrell Williams United States Darrell Miller
Hanoi Buffaloes United States Mike Bell
Hochiminh City Wings United States Raheem Watts
Nha Trang Dolphins United States Lamontray Harris
Saigon Heat United States Joshua Keyes
Thang Long Warriors United States Robert Crawford

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced with Date of appointment
Hochiminh City Wings Serbia Predrag Lukic Contract expired 18 September 2019 Pre-season Lithuania Gediminas Meiliunas 20 January 2020
Saigon Heat United States David Singleton Contract expired 18 September 2019 United States Kevin Yurkus 11 June 2020
Thang Long Warriors United States Matt Juranek Contract expired 18 September 2019 Serbia Predrag Lukic 7 January 2020

Drafts

Regular season

Standings

Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD PCT GB Qualification SGH TLW HNB CTC DND NTD HCM
1 Saigon Heat 12 10 2 1037 815 +222 .833 — Advance to Playoffs — 62–79 81–62 102–60 93–60 88–64 85–68
2 Thang Long Warriors 12 8 4 905 832 +73 .667 2 78–76 — 60–73 81–87 74–84 63–62 67–64
3 Hanoi Buffaloes 12 6 6 934 933 +1 .500 4 71–97 52–79 — 97–86 72–79 81–62 72–62
4 Cantho Catfish 12 6 6 926 996 −70 .500 4 62–92 61–79 84–81 — 90–98 70–58 81–83
5 Danang Dragons 12 5 7 962 1030 −68 .417 5 78–92 82–76 (OT) 99–104 (OT) 73–78 — 87–94 (OT) 89–81
6 Nha Trang Dolphins 12 4 8 835 917 −82 .333 6 59–90 63–80 79–77 68–80 86–56 — 77–67
7 Hochiminh City Wings 12 3 9 882 958 −76 .250 7 74–79 66–89 65–92 84–87 90–77 78–63 —
Updated to match(es) played on 20 November 2020. Source: vba.vn

Playoffs

Bracket

 
SemifinalsFinals
 
              
 
 
 
 
1 Saigon Heat 7793
 
 
 
4 Cantho Catfish 6780
 
1 Saigon Heat 59706573
 
 
 
2 Thang Long Warriors 55745354
 
2 Thang Long Warriors 8292
 
 
 3 Hanoi Buffaloes 7876
 

Semifinals

Note: All times are ICT (UTC+7) as listed by the VBA. All games were played at the VBA Arena in Ho Chi Minh City.

(1) Saigon Heat vs. (4) Cantho Catfish

24 November
7:00pm
Saigon Heat 77, Cantho Catfish 67
Scoring by quarter: 22–16, 16–14, 21–16, 18–28
Pts: Joshua Keyes 20
Rebs: Joshua Keyes 18
Asts: Joshua Keyes 7		 Pts: Dinh, Hampton 19 each
Rebs: Leon Hampton 24
Asts: Leon Hampton 4
Saigon lead series, 1–0
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Le Duc Anh, Francisco Olivar, Harry Santos
26 November
7:00pm
Cantho Catfish 80, Saigon Heat 93
Scoring by quarter: 29–26, 13–20, 24–23, 14–24
Pts: Tam Dinh 32
Rebs: Leon Hampton 15
Asts: Le Hieu Thanh 6		 Pts: Joshua Keyes 29
Rebs: Joshua Keyes 22
Asts: Christian Juzang 9
Saigon wins series, 2–0
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Dong Hyeon-lee, Le Duc Anh, Francisco Oivar

(2) Thang Long Warriors vs. (3) Hanoi Buffaloes

25 November
7:00pm
Thang Long Warriors 82, Hanoi Buffaloes 78
Scoring by quarter: 19–18, 23–19, 25–17, 15–24
Pts: Robert Crawford 29
Rebs: Justin Young 12
Asts: Justin Young 7		 Pts: Mike Bell 21
Rebs: Mike Bell 26
Asts: Bell, Dinh 4 each
Thang Long lead series, 1–0
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Harry Santos, Khiem Nguyen Hoang, Dong Hyeon-lee
27 November
7:00pm
Hanoi Buffaloes 76, Thang Long Warriors 92
Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 13–23, 25–29, 19–20
Pts: Mike Bell 24
Rebs: Mike Bell 24
Asts: Bell, Tien Cong 5 each		 Pts: Robert Crawford 31
Rebs: Justin Young 20
Asts: Justin Young 9
Thang Long wins series, 2–0
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Harry Santos, Le Truong Giang, Dong Hyeon-lee

Finals

Note: All times are ICT (UTC+7) as listed by the VBA. All games were played at the VBA Arena in Ho Chi Minh City.

(1) Saigon Heat vs. (2) Thang Long Warriors

2 December
7:00pm
Saigon Heat 59, Thang Long Warriors 55
Scoring by quarter: 23–12, 12–13, 13–18, 11–12
Pts: Christian Juzang 21
Rebs: Joshua Keyes 25
Asts: Minh An, Phu Vinh 3 each		 Pts: Dang Thai Hung 19
Rebs: Justin Young 13
Asts: Justin Young 6
Saigon lead series, 1–0
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Francisco Olivar, Le Truong Giang, Harry Santos
4 December
7:00pm
Saigon Heat 70, Thang Long Warriors 74
Scoring by quarter: 21–13, 20–21, 11–21, 18–19
Pts: Christian Juzang 30
Rebs: Joshua Keyes 15
Asts: Joshua Keyes 4		 Pts: Robert Crawford 28
Rebs: Robert Crawford 13
Asts: Justin Young 7
Series tied, 1–1
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Dong Hyeon-lee, Le Truong Giang, Harry Santos
6 December
7:00pm
Thang Long Warriors 53, Saigon Heat 65
Scoring by quarter: 11–15, 13–14, 13–19, 16–17
Pts: Dang Thai Hung 18
Rebs: Robert Crawford 12
Asts: Justin Young 4		 Pts: Johua Keyes 20
Rebs: Johua Keyes 21
Asts: Christian Juzang 5
Saigon lead series, 2–1
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Harry Santos, Le Duc Anh, Francisco Olivar
8 December
7:00pm
Thang Long Warriors 54, Saigon Heat 73
Scoring by quarter: 10–23, 19–8, 11–20, 14–22
Pts: Crawford, Van Hung 14 each
Rebs: Robert Crawford 10
Asts: Nguyen Phu Hoang 5		 Pts: Vo Kim Ban 31
Rebs: Joshua Keyes 22
Asts: Christian Juzang 8
Saigon wins series, 3–1
VBA Arena, Ho Chi Minh City
Referees: Francisco Olivar, Le Truong Giang, Harry Santos

Statistics

Individual statistic leaders

Category Player Team Statistic
Points per game Robert Crawford Thang Long Warriors 26.6
Rebounds per game Leon Hampton Cantho Catfish 22.2
Assists per game Christian Juzang Saigon Heat 5.8
Steals per game Khoa Tran Nha Trang Dolphins 3.0
Blocks per game Leon Hampton Cantho Catfish 3.9
Turnovers per game Le Hieu Thanh Cantho Catfish 5.8
Fouls per game Nguyen Van Hung Danang Dragons 4.0
Minutes per game Tam Dinh Cantho Catfish 38.9
FG% Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh Saigon Heat 56.3
3FG% Le Quang Saigon Heat 52.9

Team statistic leaders

Category Team Statistic
Points per game Hanoi Buffaloes 77.0
Rebounds per game Saigon Heat 42.7
Assists per game Hanoi Buffaloes 17.0
Steals per game Two teams 9.5
Blocks per game Cantho Catfish 4.5
Turnovers per game Hanoi Buffaloes 18.5
FG% Thang Long Warriors 38.6%
FT% Saigon Heat 74.4%
3FG% Hanoi Buffaloes 30.0%

Awards

Yearly awards

MVP of the Week

For week ending Player Team Ref.
28 October 2020 Leon Hampton (1/1) Cantho Catfish 1
11 November 2020 Joshua Keyes (1/1) Saigon Heat 2
18 November 2020 Christian Juzang (1/1) Saigon Heat 3

References

  1. ^ "Vietnam pro basketball league to start in May with extra team". vnexpress.net. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Vietnam basketball league postponed to year end". vnexpress.net. Retrieved 6 October 2020.

External links

Vietnam Basketball Association
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