# 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.

## 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 | 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 | Pre-season | 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 | 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 | Hanoi Buffaloes |
| 1 | 5 | Trần Đăng Khoa | United States | Saigon Heat | Danang Dragons |
| 1 | 6 | Nguyễn Văn Hùng | Vietnam | Thang Long Warriors | 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 | Cantho Catfish |
| 2 | 5 | Lê Ngọc Tú | Vietnam | Saigon Heat | Saigon Heat |
| 2 | 6 | Đặng Thái Hưng | Vietnam | Thang Long Warriors | Hanoi Buffaloes |
| 3 | 1 | Đàm Huy Đại | Vietnam | Danang Dragons | 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 | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | Advance to Playoffs | 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 | — |

## Playoffs

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