Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh entered VBA history with a set of indexes comparable to top foreign soldiers
Welcoming the Danang Dragons on the evening of August 30 at the CIS home ground, Saigon Heat made a bold decision to not use both foreigner Kentrell Barkley and Vietnamese-born player Hassan Thomas.
This puts "Mr. 30" at a disadvantage in terms of numbers compared to his opponents, but it also creates an opportunity for the remaining internal soldiers to shine. The most prominent is the 2m03 tall striker Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh.
The player from Can Tho had the best match of his career when he scored 28 points with 8-20 FG, 3-4 3PT and 9-12 FT. Besides, he added 25 rebounds and 5 assists in nearly 39 minutes, creating an unprecedented set of stats.
According to statistics, VBA history has never witnessed a player of Vietnamese origin or domestic soldier with an index of at least 25 points, 25 rebounds and 5 assists. If including foreign players, the tournament has only seen 3 people ever reach this number.
Besides, he rubs shoulders with three excellent foreign players including teammates Kentrell Barkley, Mike Bell and Darrell Miller to become four rare players with an index of 25-25-5.
At VBA 2023, Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh is the No. 1 candidate for the title of Best Internal Soldier - Local Player of The Year. This 2m03 tall striker born in 1998 is averaging 14.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game.
Besides the 25–25-5 index, Phu Vinh has an unprecedented series of matches at VBA 2023 when always scoring at least 10 points throughout all 17 matches.
"Saigon Heat still has a chance to climb to No. 1 in the rankings, so Vinh and the whole team tried their best to win. Personally, I feel very happy because of the result of this match. The whole team will try to win the rest. The remaining match is to hopefully get the top spot on the VBA rankings," Phu Vinh shared after the match.
Not only is he an indispensable member in Saigon Heat's campaign to defend their championship, Nguyen Huynh Phu Vinh is affirming his position as a center forward and also the top soldier in the entire country of Vietnam.
