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The statement from Bird:

"Our problem is internally," Bird said. "I see what's going on inside the locker room. I've seen a lot of it all year. I tried to address it with different people at the trade deadline."

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... z1GJeF3RTz

Are we to read that the internal problem is with Rush or McRoberts? Or, would he be referring to a trade he would have been working on that never made headlines?

I find it hard to believe the McRoberts would be causing problems in the locker room. Although, it looks as though he was moved out of the starting lineup last game and only logged 5 minutes.

My thought is that the comment may have been geared from Rush. Only believe this from the inconsistency and the positive drug test. That may fuel discontent among those who are keeping the clean image and staying out of the public eye.

So do you think it is Rush or someone else?

Players No way could be causing problems:

Foster
Hansbrough
D. Jones
Dunleavy - injured



Doubtful that they are trouble makers:

McRoberts
Hibbert
P. George
Price
Ford


My suspects:
D Granger
Stevenson
Collison
Rush
S.Jones
Posey

Well I read in the Indystar that Stephenson called out Granger and D. Jones during a timeout, and that caused Jones to have to be restrained from Lance. Apparently that carried over into the lockerroom after the game too.

Damn. That's knuckleheadedness from both parties.

Well we tried to trade McBob and Rush...I would have to ssume it would be one of them. There is also a reasonable chacne it could have been a third unamed player in the trade.

Indy4Life wrote:Well we tried to trade McBob and Rush...I would have to ssume it would be one of them. There is also a reasonable chacne it could have been a third unamed player in the trade.

If it's between them two, then it's McRoberts.

If I were to guess who is contributing to the "internal issues"...

Hibbert - doubt it, he seems to be a pretty upbeat and positive guy. His role hasn't reduced necessarily, just in a funk

Hansbrough - no way he's a problem...just look at his play

Granger - possibly considering he's the leader, but I don't see him being vocal enough to be a problem unless somebody else started a beef with him

George - doubt it. He seems to be a rookie/player/person who really knows his place and is more focused on the team as a whole

Collison - could be considering his shorter leash on minutes/slump. But everything I've seen and read profiles him as a really quiet and level-headed dude. I'd think more unlikely than likely.

A.J. Price - I could see it. We've already seen a quote from him not liking Stephenson's place in the rotation, plus we've seen some selfish play (sometimes warranted, sometimes not.)

Dunleavy - nah considering he's injured...unless he's truly the worst teammate ever.

Rush - I could definitely see it. He came into the season in some hot water because of the drug test and his play hasn't made up for it. Add in the fact he was almost traded and he really hasn't seen any production bumps since Mike's injury.

Dahntay Jones - He's a pretty expressive guy, but he doesn't seem to be a guy who would start something. I could see him only getting pissed if he was putting somebody in their place...like a really loud attempt at peacemaker.

Solomon Jones - I could see it considering he hasn't gotten much run since Vogel's takeover. But who in their right mind would actually waste their breath beefing with Solomon Jones.

McBob - doubt it. He's still had some productive moments since the trade attempt and his body language hasn't indicated anything. At first, you might think being replaced in the starting 5 might have something to do with it, but there's no way that whatever internal issues there are have only been around for the last, what, 6 days.

Posey - I could see it. Let's be honest, in the last 5 years or so of his career, he's not accustomed to being on a struggling team like this. Add that to the fact that he hasn't gotten much run under Vogel and what he has done, a whole lotta nothing.

Foster - one word, two letters: NO

T.J. Ford - I could see it since his role is next to nothing now, especially after the failed buyout and they won't send him home. But he's such an outsider at this point, that it doesn't seem likely.

Stephenson - I could see it. He's obviously a hot-head and an expressive dude, plus his play hasn't exactly been stellar. Add that to the rumor about calling out Granger (the captain, which is dumb for a rook to do), I could really see it, especially since he's battling with Price.

So my guess is Lance, Posey, and Rush, maybe with Dahntay and Danny getting roped into it.

No way it's Rush. He's probably the most laid back person in the NBA.

Posey? You already know that he could care less about what happens on this team. He's getting paid and he already has a couple rings. Lance on the other hand, I could see him calling someone out after they had a bad game. Personally, Granger deserves some heat for how this team has played lately. He's JO 2.0 in terms of a guy wanting to be the leader but then not taking responsibility for how this team performs and appearing to mail it in at times. Rush is always laid back, marijuana tends to do that. Dahntay is a guy who thinks he is alot better than he actually is.

But then again, we have absolutely no idea how these guys actually are behind closed doors. The guy you think would just know his place could be one of the guys who is supremely frustrated and is being vocal about it.

I dont think its any guy in particular, just alot of people voicing frustrations over losing. When we were winning, you heard reports of everyone loving each other and Vogel. The only problem is that we dont have a person whether it be player or coach who can keep everyone in line when things are the way they are. That's what I gather from this.

More than likely Bird is gone next season. The team will probly look a lot different after the new CBA is agreed on.

I'm guessing Rush is an issue given his name was in trade talks and we were slow to pick up his option. Hansbrough could be a problem too. you've all said no because of his aggressive play but he's kind of a selfish player and he's certainly used to being the star.

I'm puzzled about the Lance story though. sure rooks are usually in the background but we've got another thread here about benching Danny so why shouldn't he be able to call him out too. if you are playing the point and you or the coach calls a play and Danny or Dahntay break it, shouldn't you call them on it? I'd like to know much much more about what happened,.

I don't believe Lance is to blame. I am glad somebody stepped up and said something. The fact a rookie has to remind his teammates to run the right play actually says more about our dysfunctional team.

Granger acts like he could care less lately, we know it's not the losses bringing him down, maybe it's his substandard personal performance. All I know is that Barbosa seemed to have ingnited a side of Danny that I have never seen. After Leandro took that last shot Danny was saying things like, 'If I was guarding him I would've taken his head off'. I hope this attitude carries over to the next game, and that he could envision every player as Barbosa. Maybe this will light his fire.

This is the turning point. We have a squad that is on a skid, with dysfunction bubbling up and things don't seem to be going so well. We are on the precipice of falling out of the playoffs. Two games against the new-look Knicks followed by a game in Boston. It's do or die time.

Boneman2 wrote:I don't believe Lance is to blame. I am glad somebody stepped up and said something. The fact a rookie has to remind his teammates to run the right play actually says more about our dysfunctional team.

Granger acts like he could care less lately, we know it's not the losses bringing him down, maybe it's his substandard personal performance. All I know is that Barbosa seemed to have ingnited a side of Danny that I have never seen. After Leandro took that last shot Danny was saying things like, 'If I was guarding him I would've taken his head off'. I hope this attitude carries over to the next game, and that he could envision every player as Barbosa. Maybe this will light his fire.

I was thinking the same thing about Lance. I like that he spoke out. That's what this team needs.

I wouldnt say we're dysfunctional as much as we are just a young team that is in a rough spot without any real veteran leadership/experience with getting out of these types of ruts. We've seen what these guys can do when they are playing with confidence and having fun, its just a matter of getting a break or two and maximizing it and we'll be fine. Hopefully soon *fingers crossed*

If I had to guess Lance would be in the middle of it. When the ball is in his hands the rest of the team looks like they have no idea what to do. In the Philly game he looked a guy taking an AAU game to the NBA. I'm sure he is frustrated by his lack of playing time.

Just watching Lance in warm ups before the Philly game was kind of interesting. Most guys look like they are working on something. Not Lance. He's just throwing the ball up there, basically fooling around.

Him calling out Granger was probably more than D. Jones could take. A rookie with lousy practice habits (according to Wells), who has been in trouble off the court calling out the team's best player? Not saying Granger is playing well and that he might deserve to be called out but coming from Stephenson?

I disagree.... Lance is one of the few players, minus Hans & DJones, that has shown any emotion, while everyone else walks around in a comatose state. Our teams telepathic powers are weak, and so they need to communicate vebally with one another, it is necessary..

Maybe Stephenson loses interest in practice because he is a little immature, think about it, you got DC with the first unit, Price with the second, & Lance hanging out with Solo and Ford.

It is pretty bad to pin your misfortunes on the 11th man, and hold him accountable. Top-down approach is always the most effective way to fix your problems by holding the ones accountable for our struggles responsible. Lance has got nothing to do with the first unit losing the game in the first quarter, nor does he have a thing to do with the second unit.

I'm not gonna try to defend Lance, because last time I did that I got suspended, but how can you blame the team's problems on him? If you can't take criticism from a 2nd round rookie who has barely played then you have a problem. I don't see how any of this could be on Lance. IMO it's between the whole team, but I think the main two are Josh and Danny.

I probably didn't say it very well. Certainly you can't blame this team's overall disappointing performance on Lance. Relatively speaking he's barely played. And, understand this is just total speculation. You have a young guy in Lance who others might think hasn't earned to playing time he is now being given. If there is any sense of entitlement being projected by Lance combined with less than stellar work habits, then he spouts off during the time out. I think a combination like that could really piss off a veteran.

8305 wrote:I probably didn't say it very well. Certainly you can't blame this team's overall disappointing performance on Lance. Relatively speaking he's barely played. And, understand this is just total speculation. You have a young guy in Lance who others might think hasn't earned to playing time he is now being given. If there is any sense of entitlement being projected by Lance combined with less than stellar work habits, then he spouts off during the time out. I think a combination like that could really piss off a veteran.

It shouldn't effect his play. Granger was playin bad before all of this anyways, or wasn't he?