2018 VBA season

The 2018 VBA season was the third season of the Vietnam Basketball Association. The regular season began on June 16, 2018, and ended on August 16, 2018. The playoffs began on August 21, 2018, and ended on August 26, 2018. The finals began on September 4, 2018, and ended on September 9, 2018, with Cantho Catfish beating Hanoi Buffaloes in 3 games.

Vietnam Basketball Association
Season	2018
Duration	June 16, 2018 – August 16, 2018 (Regular season) August 21, 2018 – August 26, 2018 (Playoffs) September 4, 2018 – September 9, 2018 (Finals)
Games played	52
Teams	6
Regular season
Top seed	Cantho Catfish
Season MVP	DeAngelo Hamilton Cantho Catfish
Finals
Champions	Cantho Catfish
Runners-up	Hanoi Buffaloes
Semifinalists	Saigon Heat Thang Long Warriors
Finals MVP	DeAngelo Hamilton Cantho Catfish
Playoffs MVP	Mike Bell Hanoi Buffaloes
Awards
Domestic MVP	Nguyễn Phú Hoàng Cantho Catfish
Heritage MVP	Chris Dierker Danang Dragons
← 2017 2019 →

Teams

Venues and locations

Buffaloes
Warriors

Dragons

Heat
Wings

Catfish

Locations of teams in 2018 VBA

Team	Home city	Arena
Cantho Catfish	Cần Thơ	Da Nang Sports Arena
Danang Dragons	Đà Nẵng	Quan Khu 5 Sports Arena
Hanoi Buffaloes	Hà Nội	Bach Khoa Sports Arena
Hochiminh City Wings	Ho Chi Minh City	Ho Xuan Huong Sports Arena
Saigon Heat	Ho Chi Minh City	CIS Sports Arena
Thang Long Warriors	Hà Nội	Su Pham Sports Arena

Personnel and sponsorship

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Cantho Catfish	Kevin Yurkus	Lê Hiếu Thành	Thang Be Sport
Danang Dragons	Donte' Hill	Horace Nguyen	Thang Be Sport
Hanoi Buffaloes	Todd Purves	Vincent Nguyen	Alien Sports
Hochiminh City Wings	Hứa Phong Hảo	Nguyễn Huỳnh Hải	Thang Be Sport
Saigon Heat	David Singleton	Triệu Hán Minh	Hemero
Thang Long Warriors	Predrag Lukic	Justin Young	Thang Be Sport

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced with	Date of appointment
Hochiminh City Wings	Ricky Magallanes	Contract ended	4 December 2017	Pre-season	Brian Rowsom	27 March 2018
Thang Long Warriors	Lee Tao Dana	Resigned	2 February 2018		Matt Skillman	27 March 2018
Thang Long Warriors	Matt Skillman	Sacked	17 June 2018	5th	Predrag Lukic	18 June 2018
Hochiminh City Wings	Brian Rowsom	Changed to team counselor	20 July 2018	6th	Hứa Phong Hảo	20 July 2018

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	Chris Dierker	Horace Nguyen	Zach Allmon
Hanoi Buffaloes	Stefan Nguyen	Vincent Nguyen	Mike Bell
Hochiminh City Wings	Corey Cilia	Henry Nguyen	Quinton Doggett
Saigon Heat	Khoa Tran		Tavarion Nix
Thang Long Warriors	Justin Young	Ryan Le	Jaywuan Hill

Draft

Rnd.	Pick	Player	Nationality[n 1]	Team	School / club team
1	1	Chris Dierker	United States	Danang Dragons	Madonna University
1	2	Corey Cilia	United States	Hochiminh City Wings	UC Santa Cruz
1	3	Stefan Nguyen	Sweden	Hanoi Buffaloes	Danang Dragons
1	4	Nguyễn Tiến Dương	Vietnam	Hanoi Buffaloes
1	5	Trần Đăng Khoa	United States	Saigon Heat	Danang Dragons
1	6	Nguyễn Văn Hùng	Vietnam	Thang Long Warriors
2	1	Lê Văn Đầy	Vietnam	Danang Dragons	Cantho Catfish
2	2	Dư Minh An	Vietnam	Hochiminh City Wings	Cantho Catfish
2	3	Huỳnh Khang	Vietnam	Hanoi Buffaloes	Saigon Heat
2	4	Nguyễn Lê Quốc Cường	Vietnam	Cantho Catfish
2	5	Lê Ngọc Tú	Vietnam	Saigon Heat
2	6	Đặng Thái Hưng	Vietnam	Thang Long Warriors	Hanoi Buffaloes
3	1	Đàm Huy Đại	Vietnam	Danang Dragons
3	2	Phạm Thanh Tùng	Vietnam	Hochiminh City Wings	Hanoi Buffaloes
3	3	Huỳnh Thanh Tâm	Vietnam	Hanoi Buffaloes	Cantho Catfish
3	4	Tăng Minh Trí	Vietnam	Cantho Catfish
3	5	Nguyễn Huỳnh Hải	Vietnam	Saigon Heat
3	6	Ngô Tuấn Trung	Vietnam	Thang Long Warriors	Hochiminh City Wings

Regular season

Standings

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	PCT	GB	Qualification		CTC	TLW	HNB	SGH	DND	HCM
1	Cantho Catfish	15	13	2	1286	1155	+131	.867	—	Advance to Playoffs		—	69–67 69-80	82–74	86–78	88–78 90-77	79–71 88-84
2	Thang Long Warriors	15	10	5	1154	1058	+96	.667	3			74–77	—	69–75	69–57 83-84	70–76 93-79	82–71 92-69
3	Hanoi Buffaloes	15	9	6	1172	1126	+46	.600	4			77–92 69-86	62–63 67-71 (OT)	—	82–96	86–76	85–67
4	Saigon Heat	15	9	6	1250	1189	+61	.600	4			89–74 80-91	62–73	65–72 71-77	—	102–90	86–77
5	Danang Dragons	15	3	12	1184	1319	−135	.200	10			80–111	69–78	71–82 84-91	69–83 78-91	—	79–72
6	Hochiminh City Wings	15	1	14	1147	1342	−195	.067	12			77–104	72–90	62–88 75-85	89–106 79-100	75–77 107-101	—

Updated to match(es) played on 16 August 2018. Source: vba.vn

Playoffs

	Semifinals								Finals
	1 Cantho Catfish				90	94
	4 Saigon Heat				70	87
									1 Cantho Catfish			80	90	76
									3 Hanoi Buffaloes			76	68	71
	2 Thang Long Warriors				63	74
	3 Hanoi Buffaloes				67	75

Statistics

Team statistics

• Points per game: Cantho Catfish (85.80)
• Field goal %: Cantho Catfish, Hanoi Buffaloes, Saigon Heat (44%)
• 3-point field goal %: Hochiminh City Wings (35%)
• Rebounds per game: Thang Long Warriors (40.35)
• Assists per game: Cantho Catfish (17.65)
• Steals per game: Thang Long Warriors (12.41)
• Blocks per game: Cantho Catfish (3.85)
• Turnovers per game: Hanoi Buffaloes (18.25)

Awards

Yearly awards

• Fans of the year: Cantho Catfish
• Local referee of the year: Triệu Chí Thành
• Young player of the year: Võ Kim Bản (Saigon Heat)
• Sixth man of the year: Đặng Thái Hưng (Thang Long Warriors)
• Sportsmanship award: Henry Nguyen (Hochiminh City Wings)
• Defensive player of the year: Mike Bell (Hanoi Buffaloes)
• Most favorite player of the year: Vincent Nguyen (Hanoi Buffaloes)
• Local player of the year: Nguyễn Phú Hoàng (Cantho Catfish)
• Heritage player of the year: Chris Dierker (Danang Dragons)
• Most valuable player of the year: DeAngelo Hamilton (Cantho Catfish)
• Coach of the year: Kevin Yurkus (Cantho Catfish)

MVP of the Week

For week ending	Player	Team	Ref.
24 June 2018	Chris Dierker (1/1)	Danang Dragons	1
1 July 2018	Jaywuan Hill (1/1)	Thang Long Warriors	2
8 July 2018	Lê Ngọc Tú (1/1)	Hanoi Buffaloes	3
15 July 2018	DeAngelo Hamilton (1/2)	Cantho Catfish	4
22 July 2018	Mike Bell (1/1)	Hanoi Buffaloes	5
29 July 2018	Khoa Tran (1/2)	Saigon Heat	6
5 August 2018	Justin Young (1/1)	Thang Long Warriors	7
12 August 2018	DeAngelo Hamilton (2/2)	Cantho Catfish	8
19 August 2018	Khoa Tran (2/2)	Saigon Heat	9