Does anyone else "smell a rat" in the locker room.

[peanutwoozle]

From the looks of it this year, I can tell that the players are starting to look like they aren't as close as they were a year ago and earlier this year, I mean, earlier in the year, when Drummond elbowed JJ, The players stood up for their teammate, and that disappeared later on in the year, I suspect that there is someone who is a problem. Lowry and JJ have both had their problems with coaches in the past, but they didn't really divide the team. I'm suspecting that there may be someone who divided this team. Every player 1-15 is a suspect.

I think it could be Terrence Ross. Let's see, he has had some off-court problems this year with finding out he has to pay child support, and he has made some questionable comments on social media this year as well, such as telling a fan to "eat a d**k"

[golden]

Well, this is old news, more suited to the regular season, but I'm guessing something like this went down...

A few of the players went to Casey, led by GV, 2Pat and JJ and told him that the ISO offense sucked and they should be moving the ball more. Casey responded with: "Appreciate your input guys, but this is Kyle and Demar's team. GTF out of my office and just rebound their misses. Oh, and JJ, you're benched for 2 months."

[KHD]

yes, there's definitely a problem in the locker room.

dwane casey.

#FireCasey

[ceez]

i get a real sense that DD and Lowry have an entitlement issue. seems like the locker room in general is a bunch of good guys and no one wants to step one anyone's feet but i do think there's a bit of bitterness there. guys like Val, Ross and JJ looked completely checked out as the season went on while Lowry and DD seemed more and more like their shit didn't stink.

and my goodness did it stink

[BS10]

I always knew casey had a tail lodged away from the public eye

[Bear]

It is DD

He thought he was the man after that empty allstar nod last season, and came out sucking. Lowry outplayed him. Fans and media saying it lowrys team, that lowry is the star, team wins and looses with Lowry.

Demar gets hurt.

Lowry gets voted starter in the allstar game

Demar comes back with a need to prove his own entitlement to everyone.

Everyone noticed Demar was looking out for himself

"My teamates know that once I get myself going then I am gonna start looking for them" - Demar Derozan in a post game on court Interview.

[FullCourtDunk]

From the looks of it this year, I can tell that the players are starting to look like they aren't as close as they were a year ago and earlier this year, I mean, earlier in the year, when Drummond elbowed JJ, The players stood up for their teammate, and that disappeared later on in the year, I suspect that there is someone who is a problem. Lowry and JJ have both had their problems with coaches in the past, but they didn't really divide the team. I'm suspecting that there may be someone who divided this team. Every player 1-15 is a suspect.

I think it could be Terrence Ross. Let's see, he has had some off-court problems this year with finding out he has to pay child support, and he has made some questionable comments on social media this year as well, such as telling a fan to "eat a d**k"

maybe lou will?

[Primer]

Who cares we're blowing it up, we'll have a whole different team soon.

[Nilanka]

I blame Alex McKechnie, getting players to train with rubber bands and paleo diets. Sheeeeeeeit

[Mess]

i get a real sense that DD and Lowry have an entitlement issue. seems like the locker room in general is a bunch of good guys and no one wants to step one anyone's feet but i do think there's a bit of bitterness there. guys like Val, Ross and JJ looked completely checked out as the season went on while Lowry and DD seemed more and more like their shit didn't stink.

and my goodness did it stink

Yep, and entitlement as a whole dquad by being in the Atlantic and therefore gifted a top 4 playoff birth. Don't forget Lou, I'm sure GV wasn't quite a fan of what his role ended up being. That's why a player like Paul Pierce or David West is valuable. They'd make sure the players kept their shit together and their heads on the right way. If only West would be open to play for Pierce's salary. (though I did read that he didn't leave for a big payday, just a better fit somewhere new - don't think it's likely Toronto however)

[koncept]

I believe the theory that JJ upset the locker room chemistry. Everyone appeared to be fine with their roles last year, sure we added lou will but he seems to be liked by most the guys and I dont think it bodes well that JJ has bounced around the league alot.

either way, masai has done a really good job at keeping it all in house and I do believes some trades are in the works.

[Mess]

I don't think it can be blamed on one bad egg. I mean, it's not like there were fist fights or guns in the locker room. Their success was largely due to playing as a team together, it only takes a little slippage in the effort and concentration of a few players before you start losing that advantage and then you end up finding out the hard way that you don't have as much talent as you thought you did. It doesn't do any good to try to paint someone as the villain just because you think there has to be one.

[SkywalkerAC]

I blame Alex McKechnie, getting players to train with rubber bands and paleo diets. Sheeeeeeeit

Link for the paleo statement?

[Nilanka]

Link for the paleo statement?

Lol, I was kidding.

Jokes aside, there may not have been any "rat" responsible for the 2nd half collapse. Chemistry is a fragile thing, especially when you rely on it more than talent.

[slaw]

Lol, I was kidding.

Jokes aside, there may not have been any "rat" responsible for the 2nd half collapse. Chemistry is a fragile thing, especially when you rely on it more than talent.

One day I'll maybe make a longer post about this (cause there were some awesome stories) but I had a chance a few months ago to spend some time around a bunch of ex-NHLers just having beers, dinner, etc. This "chemistry" topic came up once and the two guys we were at a table with had completely different views of what it even meant despite the fact that they would both be considered great "character" and glue guys. The one thing they agreed on was that winning and success bred great dressing rooms and not the other way around. One guy made the point that as soon as a team starts losing, it's like any other business, all the workers start looking out for themselves and protecting their own interests and things get worse rather than better.

That's all that happened in Toronto. Things went bad and the team had no real history of success or leaders to get everyone back into line, so it spiraled. It's not even about guys not liking each other or whatever, it's just about how guys approach the game and the team that changes and it can ruin things.