Divac Shows He's Heady Player : Lakers: Yugoslav center learning the ways of a new country, but he already knows the game.

By SAM McMANIS

Nov. 24, 1989 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

On impulse, Vlade Divac took the basketball and repeatedly bounced it off his head, soccer style, during a break in a recent Laker practice.

If his teammates did not already know Divac and his Yugoslav ways, they might have thought he was a case of arrested development. But no, this was just Vlade being Vlade, so the unusual sight of a grown man--a 7-foot-1 center, no less--acting like a human pinball machine hardly drew much attention.

The Lakers have accepted Divac, peculiarities and all. After just nine regular-season games, the former star of the 1988 Yugoslav Olympic team has proven himself a capable NBA player and a worthy addition to an eclectic team that includes an extrovert from Lansing, Mich.; a homeboy from Inglewood; a Southern gentleman from Gastonia, N.C.; an eccentric from the Bahamas, and a minister-in-training from Portland, Ore.

Comfortable in his new surroundings and fluent enough in English, Divac occasionally participates in the customary locker-room banter and team bonding.

Divac even quipped that he sometimes says unprintable things, in his native Serbo-Croatian, to NBA referees, “because they don’t understand me.” Divac then winked and added his favorite English expression: “No problem.”

Laker fans, it seems, also have embraced Divac and accorded him cult-hero status not experienced since Kurt Rambis left town. They cheer when Divac approaches the scorer’s table to enter the game, and react even more strongly when he dribbles behind his back or scores on a spin move inside. More than once, Divac has raised his hands to acknowledge crowd response.

But Divac, 21, is more than just a curiosity; he has already proven to be a quality player perhaps able to fill the Lakers’ needs at center for many seasons to come.

Early into this foreign-exchange program--Yugoslavia sent a center; the Lakers sent cash--Divac has averaged 7.7 points and 6.6 rebounds while playing only 16.1 minutes a game. Of the 25 rookies picked ahead of Divac in last June’s draft, only six have better statistics, and all of those have played more than Divac.

Divac, whose playing time as Mychal Thompson’s backup figures to increase, will face his biggest tests so far in the Lakers’ next three games, when the opposing centers will be Mark Eaton of Utah, David Robinson of San Antonio and Akeem Olajuwon of Houston.

Still, early results are impressive. Twice last week, Divac played significant roles in victories for the Lakers, whose 8-1 record is the NBA’s best.

Against Indiana last week, Divac scored 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dazzled fans by diving on the floor, filling a lane on the fast break and even sinking a Yugoslav version of the sky hook.

Sunday, against the Washington Bullets, Divac scored 17 points in 17 minutes. During a four-minute stretch in the second quarter, when Divac replaced Thompson, the Lakers went from one point down to six ahead. Divac had nine of the Lakers’ 16 points in that surge.

“Vlade can play ,” Magic Johnson said. “He still has got a lot to learn, but we definitely know now he can play.”

Laker Coach Pat Riley still has to explain game plans and plays carefully to Divac and sometimes show him where to position himself. Divac also has problems on defense, since the NBA man-to-man style differs from the quasi-zone used throughout Europe.

For the remainder of this season, Divac probably will continue to be the first big man off the bench.

Which is fine with him. Whenever asked, he says he does not mind coming off the bench.

“For me, no problem,” Divac said.

No problem is fast becoming Divac’s signature phrase. Ever since translator Alex Omalev’s contract was terminated after the exhibition season, Divac has been giving interviews in broken English and has had to translate Riley’s catch-phrases on his own.

Divac has improved his verbal skills immensely since he and wife Snevana arrived from Yugoslavia last August. They still have English lessons with linguist Diana Platt, and he also picks up jargon and builds his vocabulary by watching television.

“I’m still learning,” Divac said, when asked about the language. “It (is) better now.”

Riley, however, still detects times when Divac gives him quizzical looks as if he has no idea what is being said.

“I think he understands better,” Riley said. “But we still see him do things out there on the court that are (different) from what we thoroughly explained in pregame talks and walk-throughs.

“I do see times when he doesn’t understand what we’re talking about. If you sit down and have a conversation with him, though, you don’t think he needs much help.”

One day before the start of the season, Riley tried to show Divac how to double-team a player without being called for illegal defense. It was a comical scene, since illegal defense is difficult enough for American players to understand. Divac stood there with his brows furrowed, occasionally nodding.

Mark McNamara, the Laker reserve center who is closest to Divac and actually has learned to speak a few sentences in Serbo-Croatian, said Divac’s comprehension level varies.

“Sometimes he understands everything, sometimes not a lot,” McNamara said. “He told me something the other day. He said that when he is tired, he doesn’t understand as much. I guess that’s because he has to translate what you’re saying in English, in his head, to his language.

“I played in Italy and I found that to be the case when I was trying to learn Italian. After a tough practice, somebody’d say something to me, and it went right over my head. But I think Vlade has improved a lot. He’s really picking up on the conversation end. He already knows all the basketball terms.”

Laker players and staff have spent considerable time tutoring Divac.

Waiting in the ticket line for the team’s flight back to Los Angeles from Hawaii, McNamara spent the entire time helping Divac pronounce, “Trans World Airlines,” and learn the English words for various airline terms.

Josh Rosenfeld, the Lakers’ former public relations director, huddled with Divac after one practice and taught him how to read a statistics sheet, telling him that FGA stands for field goals attempted, etc.

Language is not the only on-court adjustment Divac has made. He said his team in Yugoslavia, Partizan Belgrade, practiced twice a day but not nearly as hard or as long as the Lakers.

Asked which coach is more difficult to play for, Riley or Dule Vujosevic, his former coach in Belgrade, Divac smiled and said:

“Riley is hardest-working, best coach in the world. We don’t practice this much in Yugoslavia. We run more here. My coach in Belgrade younger. He is now in Spain. Riley make you run more.”

Everything is different here for Divac, but not frighteningly so. He said he is not homesick, although he misses his friends and family in Kraljevo and Belgrade.

“I call home every Saturday,” Divac said. “Talk to my parents. My brother is coming to visit me the first week of December. I have a friend from Yugoslavia, John, that I know. He lives in Torrance. He’s been here three years. I play tennis with him.”

Although Divac has not had time to make many friends in Los Angeles, he has met several Yugoslav expatriates and descendants. He recently was invited to a meeting of Yugoslav nationals in San Pedro but could not attend because of a scheduling conflict.

In terms of disposition and attitude, Divac is little changed from when he emigrated to the United States about four months ago. He still drives a Toyota, although he says he is close to buying a Porsche he has been looking at since August. He and his wife live in the same Marina del Rey apartment complex as the Clippers’ Charles Smith.

After some friendly persuasion by teammates, Divac updated his wardrobe for trips. Other than that, he is the same guy.

As a player, however, Divac has changed for the better.

Many NBA teams reportedly passed on Divac--he originally was projected as a middle first-round choice--because he spoke almost no English and was more of a finesse center than a physical one.

When Divac made his debut late last summer in the summer pro league at Loyola Marymount, he impressed Riley in only a few areas. At the time, Riley called Divac “a project,” meaning he was at least a year away from helping the Lakers.

But after two weeks at a special Big Man Camp conducted by Pete Newell and special weightlifting and running programs, Divac had progressed. His low-post defense was still weak in training camp but has steadily improved since then.

Riley has long since dropped the “project” label when talking about Divac, although he said the Yugoslav still has much to learn.

“When we drafted Vlade, all I saw of him was one or two films,” Riley said. “I saw a player who was 7-1, who looked a little weak. But I did see some nice skills that he had. I didn’t think he was as good as he is. I didn’t know him as a person. He’s a great person, a very intelligent person. He picks things up very well.

“But I think the one thing we didn’t realize is that he really knows how to play basketball. He’s got that basketball sense. He has exceeded my expectations.”

Riley, a demanding coach, said he expects more from Divac. Defensively, he is still being outmuscled by bigger centers and, as evidenced in Sunday’s victory over Washington, beaten by smaller, quicker centers.

“From the summer league, he’s really improved his defense,” Riley said. “First of all, philosophically, he has changed. They used to teach him to play behind guys. When we saw (players) back him up in the summer league and dunk over him about four times, we said, ‘Hey, we’re in trouble here.’ But Bill (Bertka, an assistant coach) has worked with Vlade. His defensive technique is better, but his positioning needs work.

“He knows what we want. I believe as he gets stronger and learns hows to apply more technique, that’ll change. Mychal is a good teacher. He’s trying to help him. Mychal is one of the best at using the size you do have.

“Vlade is not Akeem Olajuwon. He’s not Robert Parish or Patrick Ewing. He’s different. He reminds me of a 7-1 Alvan Adams. He’s got a lot of agility, great footwork offensively and is a good passer. We’re finding out exactly what he can do.”

The more the Lakers see of Divac, the more they like. Riley, usually hesitant to play rookies early (or even late) in the season, said Divac is an exception, adding:

“He’s got great international experience. He’s been in a lot of big games, World Cup games, and for the Yugoslavs against the Russians. He’s ready for this type of competition. I think of Vlade as a five-year veteran.”

The coach has one quibble. He does not like Divac’s habit of throwing crowd-stirring, behind-the-back passes. Twice this season, Riley has taken Divac out of a game because of it.

“He has to know this isn’t the Harlem Globetrotters,” Riley said. “We don’t play to the crowd.”

Divac, who says such moves have long been part of his game, said he would be willing to stop doing it.

“No problem,” he said, shaking his head.