Penn State men's basketball coach Ed DeChellis's e-mail inbox has been flooded lately.

"When you lose, everybody has got the answer," DeChellis said. "Everybody's a critic."

And, given the Nittany Lions' current six-game skid, it feels as though everyone in the Bryce Jordan Center has the remedy. Everyone, that is, except for the man crouched on the sideline barking out play calls.

While DeChellis offers that there are no "magic bullets" that will fix the team immediately, he has stressed a trio of necessities for the Lions.

"I know we need to guard, I know we need to defend and I know we need to rebound," DeChellis said. "I know those three things."

But, during the past few weeks, DeChellis has stressed these fundamentals without positive results, and though the team continues to lose, the fourth-year head coach will only point the finger at one person: himself.

"We, as a group, are not playing the way we need to play and it's my job to figure out why that is," DeChellis said. "That's the approach I take. It all rests on my shoulders; it's none of the players' fault. So I've got to figure out what I need to do to try to coach everybody to their strengths so we can become a better basketball team."

He also wants the Lions to realize there are still at least 10 games to be played, while noting that the team's morale and confidence can turn on the result of one game, or even just one play.

"We had some success [last season], so these guys are credited to having some success," DeChellis said. "We raised the level of expectations, but now we have not done, really, our part to live up to those expectations yet. We still can do some good things."

Whether his three pillars -- guarding, defending and rebounding --equate to wins remains to be seen. But, if DeChellis is ever at a loss for ideas to end the current slump, all he has to do is check his computer.

"You name it, I have it," DeChellis said about the solutions he's received from alumni and friends. "I don't want to share them, but believe me, I've gotten them all in letters. And it's quite interesting, different people's takes on different [ways to win]."

Not quite yet, Jay

Often, the disappointment of losing carries over and affects players off of the court.

When Jamelle Cornley kicks back on his couch at night, he tunes to ESPN. When the worldwide leader broadcasts Big Ten games, Cornley waits to hear any mention of Penn State. But, given the team's woeful conference record, college basketball commentators Jay Bilas and Steve Lavin have yet to mention the Lions.

But Cornley understands the team does not deserve publicity until it begins to win. And that's the key, he said, just getting the first win to build momentum.

"Whether it's an ugly win, we'll take it. Whether it's a one-point win, we'll take it. Twenty-point win, whatever, we just need to get a win," Cornley said. "We need to get back on track and just do what we can do as far as getting into any type of tournament, whether it's the NCAA, whatever it is. We need to go out here and try as hard as we can to win."

If Penn State can find ways to start turning its L's into W's, maybe the major networks will begin to notice. Until then, Cornley offers a warning to Bilas, Lavin and everyone else currently down on the Lions.

"Don't count us out just yet," he said.

Serbian Suffering

Sophomore forward Milos Bogetic did not practice yesterday because of the flu and his return is unknown.

Bogetic had finally begun to play well over the past week, and his illness could not have come at a more inopportune time for the depth-starved Lions.

"He's played better the last two games and we needed him to," DeChellis said. "He did some good things for us, so we'll see how [his sickness] plays out by the end of the week."