Will the Vietnamese basketball team "replace generals" before the 32nd SEA Games?

According to information obtained by Webthethao and TV Basketball, the Vietnam 5x5 men's basketball team is likely to have a new captain for the 32nd SEA Games arena. This position previously belonged to coach Kevin Yurkus, who has been attached to the SEA Games arena. throughout with Vietnamese basketball since 2017.

As for Mr. Kevin Yurkus, it is known that the American expert will continue to hold the position of technical director for the team, a position he has held for many years.

Coach Todd Purves' full name is John Todd Purves. He is an American citizen and started his coaching career in 2011. At that time, he was the head coach of the Indonesian Warriors Club, playing at ABL - Southeast Asian Professional Basketball League, working from 2011 to 2013.

After 2 years temporarily away from the director's chair, Todd Purves returned to the position of captain, also in Indonesia but playing in the domestic league (IBL). Here, he and Satria Muda Club won the IBL championship.

Fate brought Coach Todd to Vietnam when the Hanoi Buffaloes Club was founded in 2016, where the American captain stayed until the middle of the 2019 season. The last time he appeared in Vietnam was VBA 2022, working as a coach. Head of Nha Trang Dolphins Club.

Thanks to a successful season when helping Dolphins become the dark horse of VBA, Mr. Todd Purves received the title of best coach in 2022.

If appointed as the head coach of the Vietnamese basketball team to attend the 32nd SEA Games, this will be the second time that Todd Purves has a relationship with the red flag warriors with yellow stars.

Last time, he was the head coach of the national team in 2017, leading the team to compete at the 29th SEA Games in Malaysia. At that time, the Vietnam national team consisted of three Vietnamese-born players, Dinh Thanh Tam, Stefan Nguyen Tuan Tu and Horace Nguyen Phuc Tam.

The internal troops included Nguyen Van Hung, To Quang Trung, Nguyen Tien Duong, Dinh Tien Cong, Le Ngoc Tu, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, Trieu Han Minh, Nguyen Phu Hoang and Le Phuoc Thang.

Because 2017 was the first year to use Vietnamese-born players and had a rather short preparation time, the Vietnamese basketball team was unable to surprise and ranked 5th out of the 8 participating teams.

At the 32nd SEA Games taking place in May in Cambodia, the Vietnamese basketball team is expected to have more impressive elements, including internal soldiers and a whole new cast of Vietnamese-born players.