TIME TO APOLOGIZE
John Granato: Sorry, James Harden and the Rockets -- I was wrong
Mar 22, 2018, 7:10 am
James Harden has raised his game. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
I would like to formally apologize to everyone who is involved in the Rockets organization, maybe not Tilman Fertitta, he wasn’t the owner when I made my now regrettable proclamation. But everyone else deserves my deepest regrets.
After each of the last three seasons I have proclaimed that the Rockets are in James Harden purgatory. James is a great player and has been for a while but he hasn’t been good enough or focused enough to lead them to the promised land. They weren’t in NBA hell and they weren’t in NBA heaven. They were floating somewhere in between.
Right now though they seem to be knocking on the pearly gates and I never thought that would happen.
I’ve stated emphatically more than a few times that the Rockets would never win a championship with James Harden. They obviously haven’t proven me wrong yet but I’m now a believer in James and the organization. I’m all in on this team. I’m all in on James.
It’s certainly not all on James. Every superstar needs help. The GOAT Michael Jordan didn’t win his first NBA title until his seventh season. He didn’t have enough around him until then. As little credit as Michael would like to give him, it was GM Jerry Krause who put the pieces in place for their historic run.
Which leads us to the job that Daryl Morey has done this season. No one has tinkered more than Daryl trying to find the perfect combination of players that will mesh with James. It isn’t easy. Every GM is at the mercy of the marketplace. Every offseason they look at who is available at what price and are they the right fit for what we’re trying to do?
This offseason it all came together with Chris Paul, P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute but it was Daryl who still had to identify them, find the cap room, convince the players to come here and sign them. It’s always hit or miss. This offseason was not a hit. It was a grand slam.
These pieces all fit. Sometimes they don’t (see: Corey Brewer). These do, especially Chris Paul. Go figure, adding a Hall of Fame point guard can improve your team. I will admit that I wasn’t convinced that he was the perfect fit here. James loves to have the ball in his hands as does Paul. I thought at some point they’d literally be fist fighting at midcourt. Couldn’t have been more wrong there either.
Chris makes James better in every way. He just seems more focused. He just seems to care more about the ball. He just seems more urgent.
Dare I say it, he almost seems likeable.
To me Harden has been the least likeable star in this city. Altuve? J.J.? Correa? Verlander? Deshaun? In my mind James comes in behind all of them on the likeability scale. If we’ve learned anything lately it’s that we really don’t know what sports stars are really like. We didn’t know anything about Tiger Woods until all his transgressions were exposed. There’s no reason to think our guys are shady but James does have some stink on him.
His run-in with Moses Malone Jr. None of us are sure exactly what happened but it’s a bad look.
His yacht commercial. We know you have money James. We don’t care.
His nightlife reputation. I’m the last one to criticize anyone’s partying habits but there are a lot more people who care if James succeeds than if I do.
Elimination James. This is the most egregious and the one that will be the biggest obstacle to overcome. The evidence is accumulating: the ‘12 Finals, game 5 of the ‘15 WCF and game 6 vs the Spurs last year. He’s got to play better in the biggest games. He can’t play any worse.
But 2018 James has me thinking that he’s changed somehow. Whether it’s just his demeanor, his attitude, how much more he seems to care about winning, how much more he’s taking care of the ball, how much more defense he’s playing, I don’t know what it is but he just seems different to me.
And I hope that he proves me wrong. These Rockets can win it all and to me that’s all that matters. Will they? I don’t know. Even with home court advantage they will be an underdog to a healthy Warriors team. But there’s no shame in losing to them. You can call that a losers’ mentality but I call it fate.
There have been great teams that came along at the wrong time and ran into historically great teams. That doesn’t mean they weren’t great themselves. The Luv Ya Blue Oilers who were foiled by the Steelers and the Stockton-Malone Jazz who were stonewalled by the Bulls and would have been champions in almost any other era. They were great teams. They just don’t have the hardware to prove it.
I’m not saying this Rockets team won’t beat the Warriors and I’m not making any excuses for them. I’m just saying I was wrong. They can win a championship with James Harden. I’m just not sure they will.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.