Cougars Keep Graham Awake As Losing Streak Continues, Rookie Coach Seeks Answers

In the dark of night, that’s when the questions arrive on the doorstep of Paul Graham’s mind.

“I wake up in the middle of the night and start looking out the window, looking for answers,” said the first-year Washington State University men’s basketball coach. “Why didn’t we beat Oregon State? What happened in the Arizona game when we had a chance to win? Is this the right offense? Is this the right defense? Should I have subbed? Or should I have done this or that?”

As of late, it doesn’t matter how many questions or answers Graham comes up with, his team continues to lose.

The Cougars (5-12, 0-8) have dropped nine games in a row. That’s the longest losing streak since they dropped 18 straight in 1990. Washington State’s 12-game Pac-10 losing streak (stretching back to last season) is the longest since it dropped 17 straight in 1990. The 20-game Pac-10 road losing streak (stretching over the past three seasons) is the longest since the Cougars lost 34 in a row in the middle to late 1950s.

Maybe most dubious of all distinctions is that if Washington State does not somehow figure out a way to beat Washington today, the Cougars will be off to their worst start in conference play since 1928.

All this is eating at Graham.

“I hate to lose.” That’s always been the 48-year-old coach’s mantra.

For years, he rarely did. Situated down the bench from Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State and Dave Bliss at New Mexico, Graham was a regular participant in postseason play.

Now this - Washington State and all its ills.

It’s a job he desperately wanted and a job he cherishes. But for the first time since he was the coach at Kimball High School in Dallas, Graham finds himself not only trying to figure out how to win as a head coach, but trying to figure out how to deal with all the losing.

“Paul Graham has been involved in a lot of success over the past 15 years and when you go through something like this, it affects you mentally,” said Arizona State coach Rob Evans, Graham’s closest confidant in the coaching fraternity. “You start questioning yourself.”

Early this season, it was Graham questioning his players. After two mistake-filled games, Graham allowed his frustrations to be seen and publicly questioned the play of point guard Blake Pengelly. Pengelly later quit the team.

“It’s an intellectual exercise,” Oregon State’s Eddie Payne said about handling losses. “When you are in the throes of disappointment, the emotional part of it becomes tough to manage.”

Following Pengelly’s departure and the storm of criticism that surrounded it, Graham began to hold his emotions closer to his vest. He also sought and received advice from those who had been through what he was going through.

Broadcaster George Raveling, a former Cougars coach, sat down with Graham and told him to be patient. Evans did the same.

That’s not so easy when your team goes on the road and gets beat by an average of 29.5 points in two games.

“Losing can make you feel like you are stupid,” said Payne. “Sometimes things that you know and have believed in the past aren’t working, so you begin to doubt those things.”

“It’s like golf,” added Graham. “You get out there and you know you can hit the golf ball pretty good. But all of a sudden, you start pulling it to the left and you start trying to adjust what you have worked on, even though you know what is right.”

But what is right often becomes blurred in the blizzard of losses. Stanford’s Mike Montgomery, now considered one of the top coaches in the country, went through an abysmal 1992-93 season when his Cardinal had only two Pac-10 wins.

“We went through the season, trying this and trying that,” said Montgomery. “Then at the end we realized, no matter what we did, we just didn’t have the players.”

And that is the situation in which Graham finds himself. He inherited a program ripe with frustration and a void of talent.

Indications from other coaches around the conference are that Graham has maximized his talent.

“For him to get his team to play the style of game against us in the second half, that tells me that he has his team’s attention and they are playing hard for him,” said Montgomery.

“If you can see growth performances in them (the players) as measured by their own potential as opposed to measured by another team, you have to cling to and hold onto those things,” added Payne. “And then continue to work on those other things that are going to bring success to your program. Most of the time that involves recruiting. ”

It appears recruiting has been Graham’s strong suit to date. Next year’s class has been ranked 28th by recruiting expert Bob Gibbons and 37th by Hoop Scoop. Graham still has one scholarship left to give.

It is also apparent that guard Marcus Moore, a Graham signee who enrolled in January and is red-shirting, is the most talented player in the program.

“He has to continue to coach and continue to work as far as recruiting,” Evans said. “And try and get kids in there who he feels comfortable with. And try to get his philosophy in. Those are all things you can do. But it takes time.”

“You find out if you believe in it or not in adverse situations,” Graham said. “This is what we have and this is what we have to do and if we stay sound in what we believe in, then we’ll be OK.”

And, of course, after every night of questions always comes the light of a new day, when hope arrives.

That’s when Graham walks into his office to a handful of messages: “I saw your team play last night. They’re playing hard. Don’t give up.” - Tubby Smith. “Hang in there. It will get better.” - Nolan Richardson. “I know you’re going to get it done.”

Washington at Wash. St. Today, 3 p.m. TV: FSN Radio: 920, 790