Saigon Heat

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Saigon Heat
2018–19 Saigon Heat season
Saigon Heat logo
LeaguesASEAN Basketball League
Founded2011; 10 years ago (2011)
ArenaCIS Arena
Capacity1,300
LocationHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Team coloursRed, Yellow, Black
     
PresidentVietnam Connor Nguyen
Head coachUnited States Kevin Yurkus
Websitesaigonheat.com
Active teams of Saigon Heat
Basketball pictogram.svg Basketball pictogram.svg
ABL VBA

The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. Saigon Heat is the first professional basketball team based in Vietnam.[1]

The Heat also operates a developmental team that plays in the Vietnam Basketball Association, Vietnam's first professional basketball league.[2]

History[]

Saigon Heat is the first professional basketball team in Vietnam based in Ho Chi Minh City. They were officially announced as a member of the ASEAN Basketball League in October 2011. The team was formed by the , a multi-sports training academy launched in January 2009 and located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.[3]

In their inaugural season, the Heat finished sixth in the ABL with a regular season record of 8–13. The Heat did not qualify in for the 2012 ABL Playoffs. The Heat followed up their inaugural season with another disappointing sixth-place finish in an injury plagued 2013 season, highlighted by a twelve-game losing streak.[4][5]

Thirteen games into the 2014 season, head coach Jason Rabedeaux suddenly died, the main cause of death was traumatic brain injury.[6] Coach Rabedeaux's assistant Anthony Garbelotto was named the new head coach.[7] The Heat finished the season in fourth place, clinching their first ever playoff berth.[8] The Heat were swept 0–2 by the Westports Malaysia Dragons in the 2014 ABL Playoffs.

Following the completion of the 2015–16 season, the Heat announced the formation of Vietnam's first professional basketball league, the Vietnam Basketball Association, where they would field a developmental team.[2] The Heat VBA team consists of local players, with several of the ABL side's players being distributed among the other VBA teams for league parity purposes.[citation needed]

Logos[]

  • 2011–12 Original logo

  • 2013 season logo

  • 2014–present Current logo

Season-by-season record[]

Season Coach Regular Season Post Season
Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
2012 0 7 .000    
Jason Rabedeaux 8 6 .571    
Combined 8 13 .581 6th Did not qualify
2013 Jason Rabedeaux 4 18 .182 6th Did not qualify
2014 Jason Rabedeaux 6 7 .462    
Tony Garbelotto 3 4 .429 0 2 .000 Semifinalists
Combined 9 11 .450 4th
2015–16 Tony Garbelotto 9 11 .450 4th 0 2 .000 Semifinalists
2016–17 Tony Garbelotto 8 12 .400 4th 0 2 .000 Semifinalists
2017–18 Kyle Julius 10 10 .500 6th 0 2 .000 Quarterfinalists
2018–19 Kyle Julius 14 12 .538 5th 1 2 .333 Quarterfinalists
Totals 62 87 .416 - 1 10 .091 Best Results: Semifinalists (3 times)

Home arenas[]

Roster[]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Saigon Heat roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PF 1 United States Thompson, Sam (WI) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 28 – (1992-11-11)11 November 1992
PG 4 Vietnam Nguyen, Vincent 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 70 kg (154 lb) 26 – (1995-02-24)24 February 1995
PG 8 Vietnam Tran, Khoa 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) 72 kg (159 lb) 24 – (1997-01-21)21 January 1997
F 9 United States Bell, Mike (WI) 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 39 – (1982-08-11)11 August 1982
G 11 Vietnam 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 21 – (2000-03-24)24 March 2000
F 12 Vietnam Young, Justin 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1993-03-09)9 March 1993
F 20 Vietnam Dierker, Chris 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 27 – (1994-08-11)11 August 1994
SG 22 United States Graham, Torian (WI) 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 28 – (1993-03-26)26 March 1993
G/F 23 Vietnam Dinh, Tam 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 31 – (1990-04-10)10 April 1990
F/C 30 Vietnam 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 22 – (1998-09-22)22 September 1998
C 66 Vietnam 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 23 – (1998-05-07)7 May 1998
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • United States
  • Vietnam To Quang Trung
Athletic trainer(s)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (WI) World import
  • (AI) ASEAN heritage import
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 24 December 2019

Depth chart[]

Pos. Starting 5 Bench
C United States Mike Bell Vietnam
PF United States Sam Thompson Vietnam Chris Dierker
SF United States Torian Graham Vietnam Justin Young
SG Vietnam Tam Dinh Vietnam
PG Vietnam Vincent Nguyen Vietnam Khoa Tran

Head coaches[]

  • England Robert Newson (2012)
  • United States Jason Rabedeaux † (2012–2014)
  • England Anthony Garbelotto (2014–2017)
  • Canada Kyle Julius (2017–2019)
  • United States Kevin Yurkus (2019–)

References[]

  1. ^ "SSA Saigon Heat Joins the AirAsia ASEAN Basketball League". ABL News. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Hodge, Harry (4 March 2016). "Vietnam is getting a pro basketball league". saigoneer.com. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Home". FIBA Asia. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Saigon Heat disqualified from 2013 ABL Champs". vietnamnet.vn. 20 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Saigon Heat defeated in 12 consecutive games". vietnamnet.vn. 24 April 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. ^ "American coach of Vietnam's Saigon Heat dies of accident, aged 49". tuoitrenews.vn. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  7. ^ "Coach Tony: "Coach Rab would have been very proud at what the club has achieved"". xle.vn. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. ^ "Vietnam's Saigon Heat reach first ASEAN Basketball League semi in history". tuoitrenews.vn. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 3 March 2016.

External links[]

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