Celebrity Interviews

Richard Justice: 'I Think Rockets Will Pass on Artest'

Sportswriter and radio host Richard Justice talked with Craig Roberts about the Houston Rockets recent playoff run, if Astros' General Manager Cecil Cooper will hold onto his job and if this is the year Texans' Coach Gary Kubiak is on the hot seat.

On the Rockets' run: (They) were inspiring. There's a lesson in there about what happens to a team when it continues to lose pieces yet plays together, plays hard and becomes a unit in every way. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to be around this group and see them grow. The thing is, the team grew closer, they became more a reflection of the coach, they became more unselfish and it was great, great fun.

On Tracy McGrady's future: My gut is that they would like to trade Tracy. They became tougher without Tracy and more unselfish without Tracy. That said if you could get him at 95 percent and he were willing to work … that's the thing we don't even know. Until this point in his career, he's gotten by on being a great talent. The morning of game 5, Kobe was in the gym at 6:30 a.m. shooting hundreds of jump shots. Those of us who have been around Tracy don't know if that desire is there and he's reaching that age where you have to work that hard. But my gut feeling is that they would like to move him but that he will probably be back. Yao will definitely be back. They'd like to get a back up to Yao. I think they'll take a pass on Artest.

On whether Cecil Cooper will remain manager of the Astros: You know, if you'd ask me that a week ago, and I was with the Rockets a week ago, I would've said, "No question. They just extended his contract." But having been in the clubhouse, it's a toxic environment. Now some of that is winning. You win everyone likes everyone a little bit more. The other thing is that I think veteran players tend to gripe about their managers, but he doesn't have the respect of the clubhouse. The lineup card mistake was one thing, but it was the way he handled it. It's a tough thing. This year they're the only team with a $100 million payroll with a losing record so they have a lot of decisions to make. Ultimately they're not going to get better over the long term until the farm system gets better.

On whether this Gary Kubiak's make-it-or-break-it year: There are different kinds of 8-8 teams depending on injuries. My feeling is that they have the right guy coaching the team. I think he's assembled a good staff. The key to this season probably is what kind of defensive coordinator will Frank Bush be. And I think Demeco Ryans, Chester Pitts, Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, above all others; I think they have a core that will lead the way. In the beginning maybe they made the mistake of getting too many young guys. Well those young guys aren't young anymore. They can lead the way.