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Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images
Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and five other finalists were announced as the seven members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2008.
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By Mo Wang
The Global Top 10 is your weekly guide to NBA global news. In this week's edition find out who were announced as the members of Basketball Hall of Fame, who led their team to a playoff berth and who witnessed landmark victories.
HOF Welcomes New MembersEvery April, a group of players, coaches, referees, and other major contributors to the sport of basketball are honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This year, Jamaica native Patrick Ewing, Nigeria native Hakeem Olajuwon and five other finalists including Pat Riley, Adrian Dantley, Cathy Rush, Dick Vitale and Bill Davidson were announced as the seven members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2008.
Warrior, that is the one-word description often applied to Patrick Ewing. During his 17-year career, The Kingston-born athlete was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, 11-time All-Star and was named to three All-Defensive Teams and seven All-NBA Teams. Ewing remains the New York Knicks' all-time leader in total points (23,665), games played (1,039), rebounds (10,759), blocks (2,758), steals (1,061) and minutes (37, 586). During his 18-year career, Nigeria-born Hakeem Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, received the Defensive Play of the Year award two times and was named league MVP in 1994. He was a 12-time All-Star and was named to nine All-Defensive Teams and 12 All-NBA Teams. Olajuwon told Rockets.com after the announcement, "Growing up in Nigeria, I didn't really understand the magnitude of what it means to be in the Hall of Fame, I still cannot believe I'm in the same company with all these great legends."
 Video:
Career Retrospective: Patrick Ewing
Video:
Career Retrospective: Hakeem Olajuwon
1. HOF Welcomes New MembersEvery April, a group of players, coaches, referees, and other major contributors to the sport of basketball are honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. This year, Jamaica native Patrick Ewing, Nigeria native Hakeem Olajuwon and five other finalists including Pat Riley, Adrian Dantley, Cathy Rush, Dick Vitale and Bill Davidson were announced as the seven members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2008.
Warrior, that is the one-word description often applied to Patrick Ewing. During his 17-year career, The Kingston-born athlete was a two-time Olympic gold medalist, 11-time All-Star and was named to three All-Defensive Teams and seven All-NBA Teams. Ewing remains the New York Knicks' all-time leader in total points (23,665), games played (1,039), rebounds (10,759), blocks (2,758), steals (1,061) and minutes (37, 586). During his 18-year career, Nigeria-born Hakeem Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995, received the Defensive Play of the Year award two times and was named league MVP in 1994. He was a 12-time All-Star and was named to nine All-Defensive Teams and 12 All-NBA Teams. Olajuwon told Rockets.com after the announcement, "Growing up in Nigeria, I didn't really understand the magnitude of what it means to be in the Hall of Fame, I still cannot believe I'm in the same company with all these great legends."
Video:
Career Retrospective: Patrick Ewing
Video:
Career Retrospective: Hakeem Olajuwon
2. Nowitzki Seals Playoffs BerthThe Mavs could clinch a playoffs berth on Thursday night, if they beat the Jazz and Golden State lost to Denver. The Warriors did their part, by falling to the Nuggets, 114-105, and Dirk Nowitzki didn't blunder away the Golden opportunity. After Deron Williams made a late 3-pointer to tie the game, Nowitzki hit the game-winning trey with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. The 97-94 victory was the Mavs' 50th win of the season and the 7-foot Nowitzki registered a game-high 32 points by shooting 11-of-23 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point land and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. After what may have been the most significant win of the season, the German native told the AP, "We're coming together more and more, especially on the defensive end, and on the offensive end we're playing well and making a lot of shots. We're starting to build our confidence. If we keep going like this, we're going to be a dangerous team in the playoffs." Leading the Mavs to their eighth straight playoff appearance, Nowitzki was awarded with the Play of the Night honor.
Video:
Haier Play of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki
Video:
Dirk Does It For Dallas
3. Peja Plays Big In VictoriesAnd now, the first playoffs berth in the West goes to ... Peja Stojakovic and his folks. By finishing with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting, the Serbian helped his team defeat the New York Knicks, 118-110 on Sunday. The New Orleans Hornets became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff berth. After New York called a timeout and cut the deficit to 99-98, Stojakovic made two 3-pointers to give the Hornets a 107-100 lead with 5:56 left. After the game, Chris Paul, who is going to the post-season for the first time in his three-year career, told 2theadvocate.com, "This is what it's all about, the first two years, we were right there but didn't make it. Coming into this year we knew it would be a failure if we didn't make it. Now that we're in, it's time to concentrate on getting the No. 1 seed." Just like Paul said, the Hornets are aiming for the Western Conference throne. Two days later, Stojakovic scored a team-high 25 points and led the Hornets over the Warriors 108-96. With this win, the New Orleans Hornets tied the franchise record for most wins in a season with 55.
Video:
My Amazing Journey: Peja Stojakovic
4. Biedrins Keeps FightingSince the Western Conference playoff race is coming down to the Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors for the last spot, every game is crucial for a certain Oakland team. On Friday night, Andris Biedrins who just turned 22 years old on April 2, amassed a team-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go with a game-high 17 rebounds (including five offensive boards), helping his squad to a 117-86 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. After the game, the Latvia native told the AP, "This was a really important game, we still have a good chance to make the playoffs. We didn't put our heads down after those two losses. We'll just keep fighting." Italian native Marco Belinelli also made a contribution by scoring a career-high 13 points from the bench. For the week, Biedrins collected 66 points, 68 rebounds, eight blocks and shot 27-for-41(.658) from the field in four games.
5. Okur Shines All Week LongThere is never a lack of flair when the Spurs and Jazz match up. Last Friday, the team with the best home record in the league held the defending champions to a tie for the lowest point total in franchise history. On the night, Mehmet Okur not only logged a double-double with 17 points and 16 boards (both game-high), but the Turkey native also limited Tim Duncan to just 15 points on the defensive end. After defeating the Spurs 90-64 and ending their eight-game winning streak, Okur told the The Salt Lake Tribune, "We did a great job on defense in the second half. We held them to nine points in the fourth quarter. That's a great job." The Jazz will close the regular season on April 16 at San Antonio, where they haven't won since 1999. Four days later, Okur registered another double-double by logging 22 points and 17 rebounds while helping his team hold the Hornets to their lowest point total of the season. By snapping the Hornets' 11-game home winning streak, 77-66 on Tuesday night, the Jazz clinched the Northwest Division.
6. Steve Nash Sets the Tone After putting up a mere 136 points on the scoreboard over their previous two games (62 against Utah and 74 against Portland), the San Antonio Spurs were struggling on offense once again against Phoenix. While Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal dominate the paint, it's Steve Nash who sets the tone for the Arizona orchestra. In a 96-79 victory over the Spurs, the Canada conductor registered 12 points (including eight in the fourth quarter) and 10 dimes (against zero turnovers) on the night, accounting for his 47th double-double of the season. The victory also gave the Suns the edge in the season series with San Antonio, 3-1. After the game, Nash told the AP, "Anytime you come here it's a good win, but we're also still fighting for seeding. It gives us another possibility as far as seeding goes." Phoenix topped another Southwest squad, the Grizzlies, 127-113, on Tuesday. Nash was awarded with the Assist of the Night honor for delivering a well-designed pass to Amare Stoudemire in the first quarter.
Video:
Nash: Assist of the Night
7. Top Rookies Targeting PlayoffsAs NBA.com's Dave McMenamin puts it, "The playoffs are the reason that every player on every team finds the 82-game grind worth it.¡± That being said, though Kevin Durant might receive the Rookie of the Year award over the other two top candidates -- Al Horford and Luis Scola -- the international forces have something to prove while Durant doesn't have the chance. On Dave's "The Top 10 Rookies Most Crucial To Their Teams' Playoff Success" list, Scola and Horford are the top two choices. For the season, The Argentina-native Scola is ranked 22nd overall in the NBA in field goal percentage at .514. In addition, Scola was ranked sixth among rookie qualifiers in scoring with 10.0 points per game and recorded a career-high five steals vs. Memphis on Feb. 29, 2008, setting the most swipes by a Rockets player in a game this season. Scola wrote this in his blog, "Thanks to the results we're making the playoffs. I'm really happy because it will be my first playoffs experience. We're playing much better, don't you think so? The next challenge its right around the corner." Horford ranks first among rookie qualifiers in rebounds with 9.6 per game, as well as double-doubles with 23. He also ranks second in playing time with 31.2 minutes per game and fifth amongst rookies in scoring with 10.0 points per game.
Photo: Scola rebounds the ball
8. Turkoglu lifts Magic over Cavs Even with the third-best record in the East, the Orlando Magic have been overlooked all season long due to Boston and Detroit's dominant performances. Last Saturday, the Magic showed they have no problem to overcoming the other top teams in the East, like Cleveland. While Dwight Howard had a bad day, Hedo Turkoglu stepped in to lead the demonstration. The Turkey-native, who leads the Magic in fourth-quarter scoring (6.1 points), scored seven of his game-high 23 points in the final period. On the night, Turkoglu shot 8-of-14 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point land and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. With a 101-86 win over the Cavaliers, the Magic locked up the Eastern Conference's No. 3 playoff seed. After the game, forward Rashard Lewis told OrlandoSentinel.com, "Obviously, everybody wants to play us in the playoffs, they think we're the lesser team. That we'd be the easier series. We'll see." As the leading candidate for the Most Improved Player award, there is no doubt that Hedo Turkoglu will play a huge role in the upcoming playoffs. For the season, Turkoglu is averaging career-highs in scoring, assists, rebounds and minutes played.
9. Yi Says Goodbye to the Season Things were never easy during the 2007-08 season for the 20-year-old Yi Jianlian, who was drafted No. 6 in the 2007 Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. Back in December, Yi was named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, when he averaged 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds in 16 games. However, injuries began to affect Yi's game later in the season. After injuring his left knee in the Bucks¡¯ 110-109 victory over the Wizards on April 2, Yi was declared done for the season. The Bucks made the announcement Friday night before their game against the Indiana Pacers: Yi will miss the final eight games of the regular season with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee. After the Bucks lost to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, Yi told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about his first NBA season, "I look at it as being a great year, coming all the way from China, and having all these new experiences, these games, and having a chance to learn, having a chance to improve. Right now I look at it, and maybe I didn't play as well as I wanted to the whole season. But the most important thing, I learned a lot and I got a lot of great experience." Yi started the first 48 games of his rookie season and averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 66 games he played.
Video:
NBA Life: Yi Jianlian
10. Garcia Still Productive Francisco Garcia, the Dominican forward from the Sacramento Kings, erupted with 31 points and to tie his career best, but the Kings were defeated by Baron Davis and the Golden State Warriors, 140-132. On the night, Garcia shot 11-of-18 from the field, 2-of-4 from three-point land and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. After the game, Garcia said to the AP, "I'm proud of my guys. No matter who's out there on the floor, [we] just play hard. That's what the coach asks for, and when I'm out there I give it my all, and I want my teammates to do the same thing." It was the third time this season that Garcia reached the 30-point mark. The first time was back in November at the beginning of the season when he also scored 31 points against the Phoenix Suns.
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