The old is gone, and the new is coming.

A year comes to its end and another is coming soon. Before we head to the new season, here are ten random stories about the League in 2008:

1. SBL expanded again. Two more teams were playing in the league as it become one with 14 teams instead of 12. Under the new rules, while the twelve-team playoffs format remain unchanged, one team in each division have to miss playoffs .
2. Two 109-point games. Challengers and Dream Team showed off a run-n-gun game on Feburary 17 when both two teams reached 50-point mark (50-59) for the first time in league history. They totaled 109 points in 40 minutes of play. Followed on April 27, SOUTHORN Tigers and T-REX needed five more minutes to decide a winner, and T-REX beat SOUTHORN Tigers in the 56-53 overtime victory, only the second time — but in the same season — with two 50-point teams in a single game. There are only two other games totaled 100 points: Tigers defeat Explorers 62-40 (102) in 2006, SAMURAI defeat H.F.C. in overtime 54-46 (100) on Jan 13 in 2008.
3. Two games lost by forfeit. G.T. Explorers and Wild Beasts each missed a game and lost respectively, both to H.F.C. (unfortunately), on January 27 and March 16. A zero-to-twenty result was first appeared in the league and it happend twice in the same span. The two teams could not have enough players to start the game, while H.F.C. become the victim despite two victories. Another tricky point as a result of the zero point awarded to teams lost by forfeit, the final match-up between G.T. Explorers and Wild Beasts determined which team can reach playoffs. Should Wild Beasts had played the game against H.F.C. and even they lost, they would have 6 points while the winless G.T. Explorers had only 4. Even the Explorers defeat the Beasts, the 6 final points in the season is still not enough as the later would still have 7 after loss.
4. 36 points – New largest margin. Trojans routed the young Chung Sing 56-20 on April 13, the 36 -point difference is one more point than the largest margin in any game of the league before.
5. Yuen Ki Chiu averaged 23.1 points. The scoring leader of the season set a new high scoring more than 20 points a game. He also had one 30-point game against the Explorers on Aprl 27 which is also a league record.
6. Previous champions all done in first playoff games. SOUTHORN Tigers, Trojans and H.F.C., the champions in the previous three seasons, lost in the first game in playoffs. The Tigers lost to SAMURAI, who lost in the next round to Photons. Dream Team, the then-champion, comeback from a double digit deficit to win against Trojans before they outlasted the defending champion in the ensuing round.
7. Photons lost only once in 9 games. The orange army lost only once, and in the most important one. They lost in the Final and the rings on the last day of the league.
8. Michael Chan be winners of 1-2-3-4-Point Shootouts. Ka Wai Fu won the two events last season and this year, Michael Chan did the same and took both $100 coupons away, while they starred in the shooting events in respective season, they both could not win the champion in the same year.
9. 12.3 points up for a game, 3.2 points down for difference. The combined points in a game has risen from 60.2 to 72.5 (36.3 per game per team) this season while the margin between the two teams averaged only 8.6, 3.2 points less than the 11.8 in 2007. It more or less reflects not only the improvement on teams and the competitiveness between them, too.
10. Sportsmanship going down? There are 27 Technicals called this season in 52 games played, 20 of them are unsportsmanlike fouls. Mike Tse (DSF) had three of them, plus one technical. Chung Ming Mok (TRX) had two unsportsmanlike fouls in consecutive games in Semi-Final and 3rd place game. There are only 9 combined technicals (8 unsportsmanlike) in previous two seasons in 64 games.