Vietnamese basketball at SEA Games 32 - Final term: Final 6th place and the sadness of the men's team

SEA Games 31 taking place in Hanoi is one of the most successful congresses of Vietnamese basketball. The 5x5 men's and women's teams both finished in the top 4 strongest teams, while the two 3x3 teams pocketed two precious silver medals.

It can be said that the Vietnamese basketball team has almost "reached the top" despite playing at home, so recreating this achievement when playing away will not be easy.

It is even more difficult when they do not have the best personnel and this has been shown in the men's team, which unfortunately lost their hands at the 32nd SEA Games.

Unable to summon overseas Vietnamese player Chris Dierker, the Vietnam 3x3 men's basketball team competed at the 32nd SEA Games with a new quartet of Justin Young, Tran Dang Khoa, Vo Kim Ban and Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh.

Particularly, Justin Young and Khoa Tran were given their physical and mental energy for the 3x3 competition, not participating in the 5x5 content. This helps a lot for the preparation of teachers and coaches Le Tran Minh Nghia.

Despite having to fall into a difficult group, the Vietnamese team still passed the group stage with 2nd place out of 4 teams, facing host Cambodia in the semi-finals.

Following the trend of massive naturalization, three out of four members of the Cambodian 3x3 team are 100% American and play full-time. The other name has two American and Cambodian bloodlines and does not play for a second.

Having to face 3 players with outstanding physical, muscular and physique, the 3x3 Vietnamese basketball team still kept the match in a tug-of-war position. But at the decisive moment, the opponent showed more bravery and class, winning closely with the score 21-19.

It's not that coach Le Tran Minh Nghia's teachers and students don't have the opportunity, they just aren't really sure when the match is at 17-17. A defeat has too great an effect on the mentality of the whole team.

Losing the semi-finals, the Vietnamese team still had the opportunity to salvage the bronze medal in the 3rd place match against Thailand, but the psychological scars did not recover in time.

Overcoming physical difficulties, the quartet of Phu Vinh - Kim Ban - Khoa Tran - Justin Young players brought hope to compete for medals, even aiming for the highest position at the 32nd SEA Games.

Unfortunately for them, a narrow loss of 2 points to Cambodia in the semifinals seemed to have taken away all the will to fight. The Vietnam 3x3 men's basketball team lost to Thailand in the bronze medal match, ending the competition with fourth place overall.

Temporarily ignoring the regret in the 3x3 content, the Vietnamese basketball team entered the 5x5 media arena with a more relaxed mentality.

Not having the strongest squad when lacking many overseas Vietnamese bigman, and falling into an extremely difficult group with defending champions Indonesia and Thailand (a bronze medal at SEA Games 31), coach Todd Purves' army did not appreciate it from the very beginning. competition for medals.

Instead, the American head coach wants to create maximum playing opportunities for the internal soldiers, showing the fighting spirit and discipline in the game-by-match play.

Not unexpected, the Vietnamese team lost heavily to Thailand in the opening match when they could not compete in terms of people, qualifications and physical strength. Thais have up to 5 naturalized players, while Vietnam only has two "Viet Kieu" defenders, Richard Nguyen and Corey Cilia.

In the second match, Vietnam Tel faced the defending champion Indonesia, the team also owns many naturalized athletes with the mainstay being the 2m10 high striker Lester Prosper. Not many people believe in the winning ability of coach Todd Purves and his team.

However, the relaxed mentality and not being burdened with achievements helped the Vietnamese basketball team play a great match against the opponent.

They took the lead by 10 points in the first half of the match and maintained a tug-of-war for four innings. It was not until the last minute that Indonesia really broke out of the clinging of the Vietnamese team, winning the final with the score 88-82.

This loss made Vietnam unable to continue but showed great fighting spirit. From not placing much emphasis on achievements, they came close to winning against the SEA Games champion and lost unfortunately.

Even so, the joy did not last long. The third place in the group brought Dinh Thanh Tam and his teammates to the 5th place match against Malaysia, an opponent that is considered to be on par and is a measure of the level of Vietnamese basketball in the region.

Contrary to the expectation of a victory against a team of 100% Malaysian internal soldiers, the Vietnamese basketball team played weakly. A bad start in the first half and being far behind the opponent in the third round, Vietnam could not come back and lost in the end to Malaysia with a score of 83-94.

From a high note to an excellent performance against Indonesia, teacher and coach Todd Purves returned to the ground and closed the 32nd SEA Games with 6th place overall (out of a total of 8 teams).

This result put an end to the Games that brought many emotions to the fans and those who love Vietnamese basketball. There have been people who made history, mixed with regret and a little bit of disappointment.

After the 32nd SEA Games, the weaknesses in personnel and bodybuilding were once again clearly shown, even in the Vietnamese men's and women's basketball teams. 3x3 content is still a lifesaver in terms of achievement, but the true development of a basketball background is still judged by traditional 5x5 content.

Now with a longer preparation time, the team leadership will have nearly 30 months to build stronger and more uniform teams. All look forward to the 33rd SEA Games taking place in Thailand at the end of 2025.