Dennis Schröder Shares Alarming Comment About Raptors' Team Culture
Fred VanVleet and Nick Nurse can’t be blamed now.
For all the talk about culture change and positivity this year, whatever issues were plaguing the Toronto Raptors last season haven’t disappeared. That selfishness that team president Masai Ujiri was adamant wouldn’t return this year, well, it’s back.
“When I got here, Darko (Rajakovic) did a great job just putting his system into the organization. But I think we just got to follow that. Everybody just being unselfish, sharing the ball because at the end of the day, one or two person cannot win,” Dennis Schröder told reporters following Toronto’s embarrassing loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday. “To be a winning team, we need everybody, even the guys who don't really play. People got to be grateful, cheering on their teammates, when they get a stop, when they get on the floor, dive, pick ‘em up, being excited for one another. I don't want to go deep into that, but I need to feel that, because in the summer I did. ... I went to war with all my brothers from the (German) national team. But we knew we had each other. I don't feel it here yet like that. Every single day I just want to keep going at it and build relationships. I know it's hard, because (the) NBA is a little bit individual as well. But at the end of the day, if we keep playing like this, nobody's going to win.”
That’s about as close to a team callout as you’ll see in the NBA.
While it’s true, the NBA is a business and more individualistic than playing for one’s national team, Schröder said he’s played on other NBA teams that have played with the kind of chemistry he saw his German national team have over the summer.
“In Atlanta, like my second, third, fourth year, (I was) with great vets who didn’t really care about having points,” Schröder added. “It was just about winning. I think everybody here in the locker room wants to win as well. And I feel that still. But at the end of the day, I just want us to be more engaged, be more excited.”
It’s a lot easier to talk about chemistry and vibes than it is to discuss talent and fit. Nobody is going to publicly say the talent on this Raptors roster isn’t good enough. But looking at this team, it’s also clear they’ve been less than the sum of their parts.
Scottie Barnes is putting up All-Star-worthy numbers. Pascal Siakam is having another fantastic season. Schröder is putting up the kind of stats you’d expect from a player of his caliber. Except for Gray Trent Jr., nobody on this Raptors team is having a noticeably down year.
And yet, the results have been worse than last year, and the chemistry is just as bad.
Whatever is causing that needs to be fixed immediately.
