The word frustration has been repeatedly used by players, coaches, and fans involved with Youngstown State Basketball this season.  Doesn’t matter which player said it when or which time Coach Slocum dug deep to find a quick answer after a heartbreaking defeat, the word frustration has been mentioned, sometimes more than once.

DeAndre Mays, after the loss to Wright State, went a step further.  “It is beyond frustrating.  Frustrated doesn’t even explain how we feel.  We fight hard and have been staying in every game, we battle to the end, and we catch tough break after tough break.  Seems like we have to play mistake-free to get a win, because we aren’t getting any breaks.”

Mays and the Penguins head North to take a third swing at Green Bay.  The Penguins lost both contests to Green Bay this year and will be playing with a huge chip on their shoulders.  Losers of their last nine in a row, Youngstown State has played well enough to win seven of those games, but just keeps coming up on the short end.  It is remarkable that this team gets back up and fights again.

Corny analogy time…  If a boxer is in a fight until the 12th round four fights in a row and loses all four, his record will not show how tough those fights were, but rather the fact that he lost all four fights.

The Horizon League Tournament, starting tonight, is YSU’s chance to ease some of the frustration of 2010.  To make things worse, the all-conference teams were named on March 1.  Not a single Penguin received any recognition as a first teamer, second teamer, all-defensive teamer, newcomer, or coach.  Individual accolades in a team sport don’t add up to a hill of beans in my book anyway.  Twenty-one players named, and no Penguins.  Sigh.

This team has not played their most complete game of the season yet.  Oddly enough, they are at the end.  Win or go home.  Coach Slocum is a big-game coach and if this team has any miracles up their sleeve, now would be the time to use one.  They have the potential to win this tournament and you can bet that they will not disappear without a fight.  No one wants to face an angry and talented team like YSU, not when they feel they have something to prove.