This was the first online exchange of the Vietnamese national basketball team after finishing the VBA Premier Bubble Games 2021 experimental series.
Guests attending the live-streamed session included Van Thanh Khanh Linh, a representative of Ban Viet Bank, the national basketball team’s captain Justin Young, and two players Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh and Nguyen Anh Kiet.
At the beginning of the program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Ha Viet, vice-president and general secretary of the VBF, recounted Vietnamese basketball history.
“Basketball appeared in Vietnam quite early, starting in the 1930s,” Viet said.
“However, at that time, the Vietnamese basketball level was still very limited and we’re only a pawn when we started participating in the Southeast Asian championships.
“It was not until 2016 that Vietnamese basketball entered the development stage thanks to the introduction of the VBA — the first professional basketball tournament in Vietnam.
“In 2019, for the first time in its history, Vietnamese basketball won two bronze medals at the SEA Games.
“With what we are doing and continue to build, hopefully we will make a bigger transformation at the 2022 SEA Games.”
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| The Vietnamese national basketball team players attend a live-streamed session after the 2021 VBA. Photo: VBA |
Pham Anh Tu, deputy general director of Ban Viet Bank, affirmed that the lender had a strong confidence in the young generation of Vietnamese basketball when it started accompanying the national basketball team in 2017 although they had not gained any notable achievements at that time yet.
“From baby steps, the Vietnamese team has made their name,” Tu said.
“After five years, we are very proud to accompany Vietnamese basketball and look forward to continuing this company in the future.”
The Vietnamese basketball team players then continued the program enthusiastically sharing their feelings about their stay, training time, and competition at the VBA Premier Bubble Games.
As the players were not allowed to go out as per the safety regulations of the concentrated isolation model, those who stayed on the same floor interacted with each other by playing table tennis, watching movies, and reviewing recent games.
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| The Vietnamese national basketball team’s Justin Young attends a live-streamed session after the 2021 VBA. Photo: VBA |
Anh Kiet confided that English deficiency was one of his biggest challenges as a member of the national basketball team.
He had a hard time understanding and following his foreign coach’s tactics.
Anh Kiet’s solution to this shortcoming was observing his seniors practice and learning from them.
Besides, the encouragement from his teammates helped him mitigate the pressure.
For his part, Justin Young shared that after the 2021 VBA, he flew to the U.S. to visit his family and friends before returning to Vietnam to complete his other projects.
His most significant memory during the tournament was the first time he became a rival on the court against his twin brother Jordan Young.
Despite enjoying the encounter, Justin Young regretted that his coach’s tactics prevented him from making more face-to-face blocks against his older brother.
Meanwhile, Phu Vinh talked about his family and girlfriend’s support for him throughout the season.
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