# 2017 VBA season

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.

## Teams
### Venues and locations

| 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 | |
| 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 | Pre-season | Lee Tao Dana |
| Saigon Heat | Anthony Garbelotto | Pre-season | David Singleton |
| Cantho Catfish | David Singleton | Pre-season | Kevin Yurkus |

## Draft

The Thang Long Warriors selected Justin Young first in the inaugural VBA Heritage Player Draft.
| Rnd. | Pick | Player | Nationality | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | — |

## Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| 1 Thang Long Warriors | 1 Thang Long Warriors | 1 Thang Long Warriors | 1 Thang Long Warriors | 82 | 69 |
| 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 57 | 58 | | | | | | |
| 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 4 Hanoi Buffaloes | 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 | 2 Saigon Heat | 2 Saigon Heat | 2 Saigon Heat | 80 | 68 | 3 Cantho Catfish | 83 | 68 | 77 | 64 | 80 |
| 3 Cantho Catfish | 3 Cantho Catfish | 3 Cantho Catfish | 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.
* The Thang Long Warriors became the league's 6th franchise.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.