A season ago, Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry was considered one of the larger snubs when the Eastern Conference All-Star rosters were announced.

Considering the Raptors were still establishing themselves as a quality team and teammate DeMar DeRozan was given his first All-Star nod, it was tough to take too much issue with Lowry's absence. These things happen, fair or otherwise, and it surely served as further motivation the rest of the season.

But if Lowry is inexcusably left off the team again this season, head coach Dwane Casey is going to make it a problem for any coach who didn't give Lowry his vote.

"Very surprised," Casey said Tuesday when it was pointed out to him that Lowry sits just fourth among Eastern Conference guards in fan voting. "I hope our fans get out and vote and don't put it in the hands of the coaches. And if the coaches don't do it I'm probably going to get into a physical fight with those guys."

The fans vote for the five starters in each conference, and then coaches vote for the remaining members of the roster. It's basically impossible to make a case against Lowry, who has led the Raptors to a somewhat surprising 24-10 mark and kept them firmly afloat during a lengthy DeRozan absence.

No matter how it's sliced, Lowry has been one of the conference's best, say, five players so far, and it's probably higher than that. In 34 games, he's averaging 20.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 44.9 percent overall and 35.1 percent from long range. His defense has slipped some from recent years, but he still ranks among the league's top 10 in catch-all advanced metrics like Win Shares or Real Plus Minus, for whatever those are worth.

He was also named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December, meaning the league is taking notice of his success, too. There seems to be little doubt that, barring an injury between now and roster announcements, Casey won't have to take any opposing coaches to the woodshed.