It always happens to the Toronto Raptors, doesn't it? Getting overlooked seems to be a part of the team. First, it was DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry's status as bonafide stars, then it was their unnoticed breakout year in the 2015-16 season, and now it's their promising young guys. Conspiracy theorists might have a field day on this one.

Whatever it is, leave it to a passionate head coach like Dwane Casey to stand up for his men, especially now that the All-Star Weekend is coming, where players getting left out are a yearly issue.

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Casey has grown tired of his team being undeserving afterthoughts. With rookie OG Anunoby and sophomores Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl, and Fred VanVleet not receiving invites for the Rising Stars event despite boasting good enough talent and production, he shared his disappointment to Josh Lewenberg of TSN:

“I’m shocked.. I’m totally shocked and upset about that. It blows my mind that our young guys were not selected.”

“Some of the guys that were on there, no disrespect, I would take our guys over ’em any day. The assistants vote on the young guys and I’m shocked that they didn’t have enough respect for our young guys and what they do and what they bring to our team.”

Don't mistake Casey's subtle rant for sour-grapes, though. The Raptors, who are currently second in the Eastern Conference standings with a 32-14 record, are consistently playing great basketball, and his four youngsters have all played a part on both sides of the floor.