Here’s my game report from tonight’s Saigon Heat home opener! For publication on the team and ABL league websites.
By Harry Hodge
The drummers banged away, the cheerleaders shimmied to the beats and a near-capacity crowd at Tan Binh Sports and Culture Center kept the Saigon Heat pumped all the way to a near-upset over the Singapore Slingers Wednesday night in Vietnam.
The game was the first home opener for international pro basketball history in Vietnam, and proved to be a very entertaining affair. Paced by former Denver Nugget Julius Hodge’s 18 points and nine rebounds, the Heat put up a spirited game before falling 60-55 to the more experienced Slingers.
Saigon’s own Trieu Han Minh set the tone by scoring the first basket on home soil, and that lead would remain with the home side for the majority of the game as Saigon led at the half 27-21. But a combination of some missed shots down the stretch and fatigue owing to a short bench got the better of the Heat.
Jonathan Jones notched 17 points and pulled down 15 boards for Saigon, while Singapore’s Donald Little led all scorers with 22 points, including a thunderous dunk that nearly brought down the backboard.
“We made some mental mistakes,” conceded Heat coach Robert Newson. “We kept them to 21 points (in the first half). We just have to knock down shots.”
Newson allowed that it was an improvement on the Heat’s season opener in Bangkok against the Chang Thailand Slammers, a more lopsided 78-58 contest. The team seemed to feed off the enthusiastic crowd, taking in the historic home opener during Vietnam’s Tet holidays.
“There really were a lot of people, especially during Tet,” Newson said. “It was a really good atmosphere.”
Hodge concurred, in spite of getting a hand to the eye in the dying minutes and seeing his team’s lead slip away. But he refused to offer fatigue as an excuse, despite four starters playing the entire game.
“We’re professionals, we have to play through that,” Hodge said. “(But) I hope that we showed we play with a lot of heart and a lot of guts when we represent Vietnam.
Saigon resident Tien Nguyen, who sat behind the Saigon bench, was excited to be one of the first fans to see pro basketball up close in Vietnam.
“I believe professional games will raise the level of the game here,” he said, adding it’s becoming more and more popular with young players every day in this country.
The Heat’s next game is this Saturday in Kuala Lumpur against the Westport Dragons.
hodgedude 