View From Other Side Not as Good : Basketball: Former Mater Dei guard David Drakeford, who isn’t used to losing, looks for positives while playing for Oregon State.

So this is how all those opponents felt during David Drakeford’s high school basketball career.

It took the Oregon State freshman all of 2 1/2 weeks in college to see how the other half lives. The Beavers lost five of their first six games this season, which was one more loss than Drakeford suffered in his junior and senior seasons combined at Mater Dei.

The whole experience left Drakeford feeling a bit jilted.

“The first five losses I cried, because I just wasn’t used to that,” Drakeford said by phone from Corvallis, Ore. “The whole time I was at Mater Dei, from freshman to junior varsity to varsity, my teams went 115-7, and to come here and lose five games so quickly destroyed me.”

Drakeford would go straight home or back to his hotel room to sulk after those losses. He was depressed. He wouldn’t talk to anyone, except his parents.

“I called them a lot during that time,” Drakeford said. “They just said to keep my head up, that things will get better.”

Things did. Injuries to several key players vaulted Drakeford into the starting lineup in late December, and Drakeford played well in consecutive victories against North Carolina Wilmington, Oregon and Portland.

Drakeford has held his starting job and has continued to impress Oregon State Coach Jim Anderson with his outstanding defensive play and solid, if not spectacular, offense.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound point guard is averaging 6.0 points entering today’s game against Oregon and has committed only 11 turnovers in 446 minutes, the lowest among Beaver starters despite playing the position most conducive to turnovers.

“He doesn’t make many mistakes and he gets us into our offense well,” Anderson said. “Not very many freshmen come into the Pac-10 and get prime time, but he’s averaging 25 minutes a game. He doesn’t get scared, he gets more confident with each game, and he’s becoming one of the best defensive guards in the conference.”

But Oregon State and Drakeford have not been progressing down parallel tracks. With starters J.D. Vetter, Sonny Benjamin and Mustapha Hoff out because of injuries, the Beavers have struggled in Pac-10 play, losing eight of their last nine games to fall to 5-13, 1-8 in conference.

The skid hasn’t devastated Drakeford like those early-season losses, though. With increased responsibility on the court and numerous counseling sessions with his father, Drakeford has gained a more mature outlook on the situation.

“I’m handling this a lot better because of my father,” said Drakeford, whose family lives in Placentia. “He always taught me that whatever situation comes in life, good or bad, you have to deal with it. He taught me that it’s good to win, but in a sense, because of the way we were winning at Mater Dei, maybe I needed a losing season to keep me humble, so I know what it feels like to lose.

“To tell you the truth, I didn’t get an opportunity to feel what other teams felt in high school. Now, I can honestly say I have.”

Despite Oregon State’s record, Drakeford looks at this season as a positive. Here he is, a mere freshman who averaged eight points last season at Mater Dei and wasn’t expecting much playing time this season, starting in the Pac-10 and going head-to-head with the conference’s best guards.

Drakeford’s specialty is defense--that’s what earned him Times All-County honors in 1992-93--and Anderson usually assigns Drakeford to the opponent’s best back-court player.

That means difficult matchups against the likes of California’s Jason Kidd, UCLA’s Tyus Edney, Arizona’s Damon Stoudamire, Stanford’s Brevin Knight and Arizona State’s Stevin Smith.

“It’s definitely tough, but I enjoy the challenge,” Drakeford said. “That’s why I wanted to play in the Pac-10. Hopefully when I’m older I’ll be categorized as one of those players.”

Drakeford has held his own most nights. Knight failed to make a field goal in Stanford’s 71-67 victory over Oregon State last Saturday, and Drakeford limited Kidd to 11 first-half points in Cal’s 67-61 victory Feb. 3.

But Drakeford was held hostage one night. Arizona State’s Smith scored 39 against Drakeford in an 88-82 Sun Devil victory Jan. 27.

“They call him ‘Headache’ because that’s what he can give you,” Drakeford said. “Basically, he’s one of the best shooters I’ve played against my whole life. He was just in a zone that night, and when he hit his first few shots, it was all over. It didn’t matter if I was in his face, or not.”

It was the kind of game that would demoralize most freshmen, but a post-game gesture by Smith helped Drakeford recover quickly.

“He’s a great player who’s headed for the NBA, and he told me don’t even worry about the game,” Drakeford said. “He said, ‘I’m a senior, I’ve been here four years, and you’re just getting your feet wet. You’re a great player, keep your head up and you’ll go a long way in this league.’

“I was a little surprised. I thought he was one of those guys who talked trash and probably wouldn’t congratulate you after a game, but he was real cool. I felt kind of good after he told me that.”

It’s doubtful Drakeford will become a prolific college scorer like Smith, but he does have a decent outside shot. He played off-guard before becoming the full-time point guard and shares the team lead in three-point baskets (25) with Brent Barry, the son of former NBA great Rick Barry.

But Drakeford, who averages only five field-goal attempts, wasn’t recruited to be a scorer. Anderson is getting just what he expected and hoped for from Drakeford--consistent, dependable offensive play and aggressive, nose-to-the- grindstone defense.

Anderson just wasn’t expecting it so soon.

“It’s very difficult for a freshman to come in and check guys like Smith, Edney and Stoudamire,” Anderson said. “Those are tough cookies to handle, but he’s keeping up with them now. David takes a lot of pride in being the stopper on defense. He’s had it shot in his face a few times, but he keeps coming back.”