Vietnamese Basketball and the Data Problem: When Analysts Are Blind to Information

In a match between two basketball teams in the VBA last weekend, I witnessed a familiar scene: the head coach of the visiting team repeatedly rushed to the sideline, gesturing toward the officials, demanding a replay of a play, while on the bench, assistants huddled over tablets but had no data to display. That image is a microcosm of Vietnamese basketball: plenty of passion, but a shortage of data. In a modern basketball world where every play is digitized and analyzed by complex algorithms, Vietnamese teams are still struggling with basic statistics sheets that only record points, rebounds, and assists. This lack of data not only affects how coaches make tactical decisions but also deeply impacts the development of the entire national basketball ecosystem. When I first started following Vietnamese basketball more than two decades ago, I could not have imagined that one day we would talk about off-ball movement, offensive rating, or ball possession percentages through software. The NBA has had camera-based tracking systems since 2026, allowing teams to know exactly where players were on the floor, distances covered, movement speeds, and dozens of other metrics. The North American professional league can measure everything, from the shooting angle of a player at the 45-degree position to his efficiency when guarded closely within one meter. Meanwhile, in the VBA, if you ask a head coach what their offensive rebound percentage was in recent games, they will look at you with a puzzled expression. The data disparity between major leagues and the VBA is not merely a matter of technology or budget. It reflects a different developmental philosophy. While the NBA and leading European leagues have fully embraced the data revolution, integrating it into every aspect of scouting, coaching, and injury recovery, Vietnamese basketball remains in its infancy of data collection. Many VBA games do not even have three professional statisticians; they rely on volunteer students with handwritten sheets full of inconsistent numbers. This leads to a harsh reality: most tactical analyses of Vietnamese teams today are based on the intuition of experts rather than accurate, verifiable numbers. This problem affects not only the national team level but also poses major challenges for youth player scouting and development. When a scout wants to evaluate a young talent, they need to know how many touches per game the player has, his three-point success rate under pressure, or his performance when the game pace changes. Such information is almost nonexistent in Vietnamese youth basketball training centers. I once spoke with a national youth team coach; he admitted that the best way to evaluate his students is to watch them practice and play live, because poor statistics cannot suggest any choices. However, the lack of data is not just a professional obstacle; it also creates fertile ground for misleading opinions and baseless decisions. Look at VBA transfers. Rumors about a player moving to another team often spread on social media with overblown or underestimated evaluations based on isolated performances that are not placed in a statistical context. When I hear a commentator say, "Player X is in great form" because X scored 25 points in a game, I wonder: do they know that those points came from easy attempts within the system of a team playing at a fast pace, or from genuine self-creation? Without data on contested attempts, tight defense, or time of possession, every assessment is merely guesswork. This leads me to a contrarian thought: many people argue that basketball can be understood just by watching, that the philosophy "what you see is what you get" remains valuable. But can a coach devise a solid defensive plan without knowing how often the opponent uses pick-and-roll? Can a scout find a hidden gem without any quantifiable endurance tests? The answer is no. Modern basketball is a sport of numbers, and those who ignore this fact will fall behind. I recall a VBA game where a team known for its free-flowing offense was suddenly stifled by a more organized opponent. While most blamed the players' stamina, few realized that the losing team lacked the ability to analyze data about how the opponent chose their primary defender, leading to a stagnant offense. With data, they could have adjusted their attacking direction, exploiting a weaker player on the weak side. But no, everything relied on the coaching staff's intuition, and intuition is not always right. Data is not just a coaches' issue; it is also a matter for managers who are striving to build a professional basketball system in Vietnam. When a team signs a foreign player, they often rely on carefully edited highlight videos and recommendations from agents rather than weighing statistics like average minutes played, defensive efficiency across different systems, or injury history. As a result, many teams pay the price for an unsuitable import, not only because of declining form but also because of the inability to integrate into the team's style. The lack of data also means an inability to accurately assess the value of a local player, leading to overpriced contracts or missing out on talents sold at bargain prices. All these factors make VBA development slow and unsustainable compared to regional leagues like the PBA in the Philippines or the T1 League in Taiwan, where data is an indispensable part of team management. But there is an aspect I find most thought-provoking: when there is not enough data, should analysts boldy make assessments? In some developed basketball communities, analysts produce detailed reports on every game, player, and even referee tendencies. They can freely debate because they have a solid data foundation. In contrast, Vietnamese analysts often work with raw numbers and sometimes purely emotional impressions. Consequently, commentary on online newspapers or television channels often sounds impressive but is hollow. More seriously, some self-proclaimed experts do not hesitate to predict a team's victory based on "mental strength" or "cohesion"—vague, unquantifiable concepts. This not only misleads audiences but also fosters a culture of unscientific analysis, where emotional voices can drown out rational ones. I believe it is time for Vietnamese basketball stakeholders to change their approach. First, we must admit that we lack data, and lacking data is not shameful but a challenge to overcome. Instead of delivering shallow analyses, professionals should boldly say, "we do not have enough information to evaluate," rather than trying to make conclusions to attract attention. This honest approach not only enhances the credibility of professionals but also facilitates the construction of a more accurate data system in the future. In fact, some countries have gone from having no data to establishing a full statistical system within just a few years. Before the 1990s, the NBA relied only on basic stats, but when the data revolution began, they advanced at a rapid pace. Today, every NBA team has an entire analytics department, and data has become a crucial weapon. If Vietnamese basketball wants to grow, we should at least obtain the basic statistics that other leagues have long had: attempts, fouls, steals, turnovers, and metrics on offensive and defensive efficiency. Collecting this data does not require extremely high-end technology; sometimes it just requires a few responsible people to record carefully and consistently. But above all, the most important thing is the awareness of the value of data—data is not a luxury but the foundation for every sound decision. Looking at the analysis I recently read on a basketball forum, I was impressed by the author's carefulness. In a long document, the author repeatedly wrote "N/A - insufficient information" to refuse any evaluation when data was missing. Initially, I felt the author was avoiding responsibility, but upon closer reading, I recognized it as a valuable professional attitude. In a basketball world full of misinformation and baseless commentary, clearly stating "I do not have enough data to conclude" is a sign of integrity and respect for the reader. In basketball, as in journalism, if there is no evidence, say so rather than desperately spinning baseless conjectures into facts. The story of data scarcity in Vietnamese basketball reminds me of my early days as a sports broadcaster at a local television station. Back then, we had no statistical system, let alone computers to record results. Everything was on paper, and we often had to guess when numbers were missing. But it was in such circumstances that I learned a valuable lesson: when numbers are not available, speak based on real observations and understanding of basketball, but also humbly acknowledge your limitations. That humility did not make me appear incompetent to audiences; on the contrary, it helped me build trust because viewers sensed sincerity in my words. I remember a VBA finals game a few years ago when a Ho Chi Minh City team defeated a Hanoi team in the final seconds. On television, commentators enthusiastically spoke of the "champion's poise" and "never-surrender spirit," but no one analyzed that the victory came from a subtle tactical shift: they switched from zone defense to man-to-man, disrupting the opponent's rhythm. That change could have been detected by counting possessions and the efficiency of each offensive option. With data, that game could have been analyzed in much greater depth. But without it, it all remained superficial emotion. Now, as I write these lines, I recall a "basketball data notebook" I used in my early professional years. It was a notebook with columns recording every game, player, and play meticulously. Those pages, although old and yellowed, held valuable information about how a player moved, how a team rotated, and even the tendencies of referees. But today, those notebooks have almost disappeared, replaced by Excel spreadsheets and data analysis applications from major leagues. While the world is racing ahead with artificial intelligence and machine learning, Vietnamese basketball is still struggling with finger counting and vague concepts. We need to change. The future of Vietnamese basketball depends not only on talented players or skilled coaches but also on how we handle information and data. If we do not act immediately to build a reliable data system, we will continue repeating old mistakes, making wrong decisions about tactics, transfers, and player development. Moreover, we will fall behind not only countries with developed basketball programs but also regional peers who have invested heavily in data science. As someone who has spent his entire life following and analyzing sports, I understand that data is not everything, but it is the foundation. Without that foundation, any analysis is building a castle on sand. I hope that in the near future, we will witness a major shift in how Vietnamese teams collect and use data, and that cautious, evidence-based analyses will become the norm, replacing flowery but empty commentary. Look at basketball, but also look at the numbers, for that is the common language of modern sports. Numbers never lie, but they only speak when we listen properly. It is time for Vietnamese basketball to listen and start building a future based on truth, data, and intelligent tactics.