Paul Gallant goes through history - world history - to see how this superstar duo could fare in 2019
Harden & Westbrook: A historic power couple?
Jul 24, 2019, 6:55 am
You guys have called me out for it. So I'll admit it. I'm hard on the Houston Rockets. Why? Because when it comes to Houston sports teams, they're my middle child.
"You don't have any kids PAWL, ain't nobody making babies with you…"
The Astros are my successful older child. They can actually provide for me. Buy me a house please, kiddo. I'm hoping they'll eventually put me in a nursing home with attractive grannies when I look like this.
The Texans – my baby – might be cute with Watson, Hopkins, and Watt. But with the constant losses on big stages, strange game management decisions by Bill O'Brien, and now the lack of a GM, I always feel like I'm cleaning up a dumpy diaper. Getting canned from 610 sucked, but at least I'm not a baby sitter anymore...
Meanwhile, the Rockets are stuck in the middle. They're Jan from the Brady Bunch (bet you didn't think I could drop a 60s reference IN YOUR FACE). Sure, they're a pretty impressive child. But THEY'RE ALWAYS whining. "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia." Sorry kid. I expect oldest child level success from you.
And ultimately, no matter how impressive James Harden can be in the regular season, they've been pretty forgettable come playoffs (Except that one time. Thanks, Chris Paul's hamstring). Just like Jen. Or…Meg? I forget my child's name.
Also, the Texans just two-sied again while trying to hire Nick Caserio from the Patriots. Gotta go…
Kidding. The Rockets did get better by dumping CP3 – along with practically the rest of their draft picks – for Russell Westbrook. It's this simple: no matter how many bad shots that monomaniacal triple double addict shoots, Russ is simply better than Chris. He's a durable player that'll go all out for close to 82 games a night, and a guy that physically CAN take control of a game when Harden has an off night.
Still, bringing two ball dominant guys together is tricky. Yeah, Mike D'Antoni was able to get James Harden and Chris Paul play pretty well with one another while CP3 was healthy. But is HE going to be the guy to shake Russell Westbrook out of his extremely bad habits? And is Russ – who last played with James Harden when he was a sixth man – willing to defer to ole Jim as the lead dog? I'm EXTREMELY skeptical.
Power duos are the new norm in the NBA. And I suppose I could try and compare what James and Russ could be to some of the marvelous marriages and disastrous divorces of recent NBA history. But my nerdy self would MUCH rather compare the possibilities of these two to . . . historical figures? After all, they say history tends to repeat itself . . .
Caesar and Pompey: 60 – 45 BC
IN A NUTSHELL:
Caesar and Pompey – two of the greatest military leaders in Roman history – had an informal alliance (along with this rich guy named Crassus) towards the end of the Roman Republic. It was called the First Triumvirate. The first Big 3, and together for one cause: helping each other "seek personal advantage." And it worked. Pompey even married Caesar's daughter, Julia. But when Julia died (54 BC), then Crassus died (53 BC), their relationship began to sour, eventually leading to war. Caesar won, and Pompey would later be assassinated after fleeing the defeat.
COULD THIS BE JAMES AND RUSS?
Harden wants a title. Westbrook wants a title. And I think they both know that their best chance to get one is by playing with one another, not against each other in Houston and Oklahoma City. THAT is the "personal advantage" they seek.
…Unless Russell views Harden as a key to more triple doubles. Which I doubt. Because if he disrupts the Harden-centric offense, he'll likely leave the Rockets the way Pompey did.
PS: If you liked Game of Thrones, you need to check out Rome on HBO. It covers the Great Roman Civil War between Caesar and Pompei through the eyes of two soldiers who just stumble into some of the most important events in Roman history. It's basically a period themed buddy cop with all the sex and violence of GOT.
Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen: ~700 AD
"PAWL, they weren't REAL."
"Enough with the HBO plugging PAWL, you wannabe Bill Simmons. They aren't going to pay you"
IN A NUTSHELL:
(SPOILER ALERT)
Jon (desperate for soldiers to fight an army of zombies) made a visit to Casa Daenerys asking for help from the self-proclaimed Queen (who somehow has three dragons for children). In classic Cocky Dany fashion, the Mad Queen imprisons Jon until he decides to bend the knee and recognize her as Queen. Speaking of bending, some more bending goes on (hehe), and these two become lovers even though Daenerys is actually Jon's Aunt. Together they defeat the army of the dead, and team up to win Dany control over all the land. Unfortunately, Dany got upset that her best friend died and murders 500,000 people on a whim. Classic. So, Jon makes out with her and stabs her to death while doing it. This actually happened like 1000 or so years ago!
COULD THIS BE JAMES AND RUSS?
I can confirm this: James Harden will not stab Russell Westbrook to death while making out with him. Also, I can confirm the vice versa. But I do know that ole Russ could easily do the equivalent of murdering 500,000 innocents come playoff time: a patented 8-24 game from the field with 9 turnovers. For this partnership to work, Russell will need to bend the knee to James when they're both on the court.
Isabella and Ferdinand: 1469 – 1504 AD
IN A NUTSHELL:
Their marriage unified the Spanish Kingdoms of Castile and Leon, and ultimately established Spain as a dominant Global Power. Over their reign, they:
- Funded Christopher Columbus' discovery of America
- Defeated the Moors and ended Muslim rule in Spain
- Forced all the Jews and Muslims out of their country
- Tortured / killed everyone who didn't convert to Catholicism in the Spanish Inquisition.
What a lovely couple! Basically, these two could and would ruin you.
COULD THIS BE JAMES AND RUSS?
THIS would be the best-case scenario for the Harden and Westbrook (minus those invading / persecuting / torturing things): a whole lot of conquering over a long period of time. I'd be shocked if their partnership pays off that way, but I won't rule the possibility ENTIRELY out.
USA and the Soviet Union: 1941 – 1945
IN A NUTSHELL:
They hated each other. But for 4 years, they hated Nazis more.
The US delivered $11 Billion in materials (17.5 million tons in weight) to the Soviets as part of the American Lend-Lease program during World War 2. And the Soviets – who bore the brunt of what they call the "Great Patriotic War" (~27 million combined citizens and soldier deaths) – held the Eastern front, eventually over-powering ~200 German divisions. The two combined to crush Germany, and Russia ultimately helped speed up the unconditional surrender of Japan by invading Manchuria.
But afterwards? A nearly 45 year passive aggressive "Cold War".
COULD THIS BE JAMES AND RUSS?
Yeah. It's how I see this playing out. Minus taking down NBA Nazis. Those don't exist.
I can see Harden and Westbrook winning A LOT of regular season games. I can see Rockets fans talking themselves into a title run because of those regular season wins. Hell, I could even see the Rockets beating up on the NBA's star-less peasant teams and sporting the league's best record heading into the playoffs.
But do we really believe that these two super-powers can co-exist when the regular season war is over? Can their ball dominance overcome fatigue? When Mike D'Antoni shrinks his rotations, and Harden and Westbrook are on the court together 40+ minutes a game, will they actually complement each other? Can a team led by two elite guards beat teams with superstar wings? I'm having a hard time seeing any of those working out. And I could easily see Harden and Westbrook getting extremely frustrated with each other's play.
Paul Gallant hosts the "Gallant Says" podcast (Mondays & Fridays on iTunes), "Just Sayin'", Fridays on Kube 57, and contributes to SB Nation Radio. Have any questions? Get after him on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”