A Tie at Center Means Victory Over Rockets

With what scheme does a team without Kareem handle Hakeem?

Several alternatives were available to the Lakers. They could pull Kareem Abdul-Jabbar out of Bel Air or pull Mychal Thompson out of basketball mothballs. They could ask Terry (the Real Deal) Teagle to punch Hakeem out. They could even try honoring the man formerly addressed as Akeem by having a Laker change his name to H.C. Green.

Or, they could motivate Vlade Divac.

Which, somehow, they did.

As the Serbo-Croatian Sensation from Yugoslavia said Saturday after playing Hakeem the Dream from Nigeria to a standoff: “I must make big concentration for the playoffs.”

He must, and he did.

Game 2 summary: Olajuwon, 23 points, 11 rebounds. Divac, 23 points, 10 rebounds. Lakers win again, 109-98. Sorry, Houston. It’s our Vlade and you can cry if you want to.

Hakeem held Vlade in high esteem.

“I do not think that you give him the credit he should be given as a player,” Olajuwon said. “You should be giving him the credit where the credit is due.”

OK, big O, but remember, Vlade doesn’t always play the way he played Saturday.

“Well, I can only judge him by the way that he plays against me,” Olajuwon said.

Which is how?

“He is very smart. He knows how to play the game. He passes very well. He hustles. He dives on the loose balls. He positions himself very well. He is doing all the necessary things to be doing. He is young, but he is an excellent center.”

The African has five years on the Eastern European. How will Divac do when he is no longer 23 and has been around the league a few times?

NBA life tuckers him out. As a rookie, Vlade had to adjust to the endless grind, to joyless bus and plane rides, to language skills and to the league’s skills. By the time he got to Phoenix, he was pooped. The quick Laker knockout from the playoffs was no accident.

Something had to give.

The Rockets felt that with Eric (Sleepy) Floyd and Vernon (Not Exactly Bashful) Maxwell, they were armed with guards good enough to combat Earvin (Magic) Johnson and Byron (Late Shot) Scott. So, if Olajuwon could give that young Yugoslav an education beneath the hoop, Houston figured to give the Lakers 48 minutes of hell.

Hasn’t happened.

Hasn’t happened because Divac, averaging 41 minutes, happens to be averaging 20 points and 10.5 rebounds a game.

What got into him?

Was he motivated for the playoffs by his wife, Snezana, recently returning from their Yugoslavia home to their Marina del Rey home away from home?

No, said Vlade: “I am professional player, and I have to play no matter what my personal life is.”

Well then, was he motivated by Coach Mike Dunleavy mapping out some secret strategy to use against Olajuwon?

No, said Dunleavy: “It’s because I’ve been pleading with him.”

Hmmm. Good plan.

Magic Johnson did more than just plead. He coaxed. He coerced. He cussed. He nudged. He needled. Magic did everything but stuff Vlade inside a box and saw him in half.

“Vlade’s taken a lot, and I’ve probably been giving him most of it,” Johnson said. “I guess it must have worked, because I’ve never seen him this consistent.

“There are two things you have to know about Vlade. One is, he had never played against anybody like Hakeem. The other is, when you’re in the United States and you’re in the playoffs, everybody’s intensity level is up here.”

Magic raised his hand above his head.

“But last year in the playoffs, Vlade’s intensity stayed down here.”

Magic lowered his hand to salute level.

“He didn’t make that transition, and he had to,” Johnson said. “If you’re not intense against Hakeem, he is going to kill you.”

Opposed on general principles to being killed, Divac raised his game to above-the-head level. He hustled and hassled, annoying Olajuwon, scrapping for rebounds, volleyballing the basketball to a nearby teammate whenever he couldn’t grab it himself.

Vlade even blocked three Houston shots. Houston’s whole team blocked one.

Of course, it’s hard to block Houston’s shots when most of them are being taken by Maxwell from somewhere in the vicinity of Hit This Half-Court Shot and Win a New Automobile distance.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Divac, but he really surprised me,” Houston Coach Don Chaney said. “He’s not making nearly as many mistakes as he made earlier in the year.”

Well, no wonder.

“I can do better when I have big experience,” Vlade said.