Rockets Didn't Even Add an Offensive Coach, Let Alone a Big Free Agent

Summary

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Episode Overview

Main Theme:
This episode of Payne & Pendergast (July 15, 2026) is dedicated to dissecting the Houston Rockets’ lack of meaningful activity during the off-season—specifically, their decision not to add an offensive coach or a major free agent. Hosts Seth Payne (subbing in with Luke Morrow for Sean Pendergast) and Jimmy Conrad express frustration with the team’s passive approach, highlighting both organizational stubbornness and missed opportunities compared to NBA rivals.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Frustration with Rockets’ Offseason Inertia

• The Spark: The conversation kicks off with co-hosts responding to a point by reporter Adam Spillane, noting that the most frustrating part of the Rockets’ offseason isn’t just the lack of big roster moves—it’s the failure to supplement the coaching staff, specifically offensively (01:43).
• Player Constraints vs. Coaching Flexibility:
  • The hosts recognize the team's hands are tied on the player side due to cap space and contracts.
  • However, they point out there’s “no salary cap for the coaching staff,” making the lack of a creative offensive addition inexcusable.
  • Quote: "There's no salary cap for the coaching staff. Like you can bring in whoever you want. And it just seems like a stubbornness or unwillingness to try to bring somebody in on the staff to help Udoka, who clearly seems like he needs some offensive help." — Seth Payne (02:59)

2. Contrasting the Rockets with NBA Peers

• The Spurs and Warriors are cited as progressive organizations that add respected offensive coordinators even as their teams are thriving or have established head coaches.
  • The Spurs, fresh off an NBA Finals appearance, brought in Billy Donovan in an "offensive coordinator" role for their young coach.
  • The Warriors, with Steve Kerr (regarded as one of the NBA’s best), hired Frank Vogel, and previously had Mike Brown in similar roles.
• Quote: “Even [the Warriors] add. And yet the Rockets, it's like, man, they're not adding much on the roster and they're not adding anything to the coaching staff. This truly is just simply running it back from last year…” — Seth Payne (03:54)

3. The Dangers of “Running it Back”

• The hosts discuss the notion of reimplementing last year’s plan (plus a healthier roster) as risky and uninspiring.
  • Injury Risks: A specific example: relying on veteran point guard Van Vliet not suffering another season-derailing injury.
  • Concerns of Complacency:
    • “It just. It still seems like a little bit of a half measure... Sometimes inaction is actually the best course of action. But there's got to be a limit to it…” — Jimmy Conrad (05:16)

4. Historical Perspective: Rockets Coaching and Ownership Decisions

• The discussion references past Rockets’ staff maneuvers, such as the pursuit and re-hiring of Jeff Bzdelik, and how even owner Tilman Fertitta should see the value in balancing coaching strengths.
• The lack of urgency or adaptation is seen as a repeated flaw.
  • Quote: "[Fertitta] has seen exactly the difference that it made when Mike d'Antoni, an offensive minded coach, had a counterpart in Jeff Bzdelik on his staff. And there doesn't seem to be any kind of wanting to go back to that. Well, of like, all right, let's address things on multiple fronts..." — Jimmy Conrad (07:04)

5. Analogies for Stubbornness and Lack of Experimentation

• The hosts use several pop-culture and music industry analogies to highlight the Rockets’ conservatism:
  • Re-running Last Year’s Plan: Compared to re-trying a date or vacation in hopes of “getting it right”—rarely as satisfying or innovative the second time (06:16).
  • Kurt Cobain vs. John Lennon:
    • Cobain’s resistance to layering his vocals is likened to Udoka/Rockets’ reluctance to upgrade the coaching staff.
    • Quote: "If the Spurs can do it...and if Steve Kerr can do it...then IME Adoka and the Rockets should do it as well. That stubbornness there...that's even more frustrating to me than the lack of free agent signings." — Seth Payne (10:05)
  • The Beatles Experimentation: Once the Beatles embraced new studio techniques, their music jumped in quality—suggesting the importance of evolution over repeating old formulas (11:26).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Time | Speaker | Quote/Highlight | |----------|----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:59 | Seth Payne | “There's no salary cap for the coaching staff... It just seems like a stubbornness...” | | 03:54 | Seth Payne | “This truly is just simply running it back from last year… and just, hey, hoping it’s different.” | | 05:16 | Jimmy Conrad | “Sometimes inaction is actually the best course of action. But there's got to be a limit to it...” | | 07:04 | Jimmy Conrad | “Fertitta has seen exactly the difference that it made when Mike d'Antoni... had Bzdelik on staff.”| | 10:05 | Seth Payne | “If the Spurs can do it... then IME Adoka and the Rockets should do it as well. That stubbornness…”| | 06:16 | Seth Payne | “It's almost like when you try to plan the perfect, like, date for your girlfriend... trying to duplicate... it’s never as good as you think it’s going to be.” | | 11:26 | Seth Payne | “[The Beatles]...just recording music and able to spend more time in the studio, which is why they were able to...produce, I think, even greater music.” |

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Rockets’ Offseason Frustrations — 01:43–04:24
• Comparison to Spurs & Warriors Front Offices — 02:18–03:54
• The “Run It Back” Philosophical Debate — 04:24–07:04
• Historical Perspective (Bzdelik, Fertitta) — 07:04–09:02
• Pop Culture/Music Analogies Highlighting Stubbornness — 10:05–12:53

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Tone, Energy, and Banter

The episode maintains a conversational, relatable tone, mixing sharp sports analysis with music and pop culture references that add humor and draw colorful parallels—typical of Houston’s morning sports talk banter. There’s a palpable frustration and incredulity at the Rockets’ lack of initiative, but the hosts skillfully use analogies to unify sports and broader creativity.

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Summary Takeaway

For Houston sports fans or outsiders wondering about the Rockets’ summer, this episode is a pointed critique of “standing pat” in a competitive NBA landscape. The hosts argue that a progressive approach—to both player and coaching development—is not only possible but essential. The comparison to more willing-to-evolve franchises like the Spurs and Warriors makes Houston’s conservative tactics particularly glaring. Their central message: If NBA giants aren’t above evolving or seeking outside help, why are the Rockets?

Transcript

[Jimmy Conrad]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

you get your podcasts maybe the most frustrating Part of the Rockets off season It's Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. 713-572-4610 on the text line. Appreciate all y' all reaching out.

[Jimmy Conrad]

I don't appreciate the guy that thinks that because I don't want to tell my wife the worst thing I've ever done that it must be be really, really bad. No, no, no. It's more a matter of trying to power rank the bad things I've done. I gladly tell her the worst thing, but first I need to submit a ballot to NFL players and have them power rank them for me.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Yeah, I'm just looking through all the text coming and appreciate you guys listening and reaching out. Shifting though, over to the Rockets here because I saw this was pointed out actually by Adam Spillane and it was a good point made and I think it's the most frustrating part is we know it's been a quiet off season for the Rockets and I can get it from a player perspective because their hands are sort of tied right now. But the other thing we were all clamoring for as we were watching the playoffs or even the regular season was the lack of like an offensive coach

[Jimmy Conrad]

for this team, like an offensive coordinator. The same way Jeff Bizdelic was a defensive coordinator for the Rockets when Mike d' Antoni was here that, you know, he brought in Jeff Bizdelic and the defense, like, like Mike Dantoni's, you know, system has always had its defensive deficiencies and it's difficult in some ways because you got to account for the way they play on offense. But like Jeff Fizzdelic did things that got the most out of a bunch of guys defensively on those teams. And you don't, you don't get the sense that the Rockets even, you don't get the sense the Rockets even give a damn that their head coach isn't, is all about defense and isn't that, you know, an offensive minded guy?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. And, and that's the frustrating part is because like I said, I get it if, if your hands are tied, your strap cat, your cash strapped, whatever, you can't add the players you want. But there's no salary cap for the coaching staff. Like you can bring in whoever you want. And it just seems like a stubbornness or unwillingness to try to bring somebody in on the staff to help Udoka, who clearly seems like he needs some offensive help. And then you look around the, the other parts of the league, the spurs, who were just in the NBA Finals and granted have a young head coach so he can benefit from having a unexperienced coach by his side, but they brought in Billy Donovan to be their quote, unquote offensive coordinator. The warriors, who have Steve Kerr who's like regarded as one of the best coaches in the league, they brought in Frank Vogel to be their offensive coordinator this off season. And that was after having Mike Brown previously as their quote, unquote offensive coordinator before Mike Brown just left for the Knicks this past year. And so you see the spurs just in the finals adding to their offensive staff. The warriors, as good as Kerr has been in that franchise has been recently, even they add. And yet the Rockets, it's like, man, they're not adding much on the roster and they're not adding anything to the coaching staff. This truly is just simply running it back from last year from a healthier perspective. I get that. But running back the same plan from last year and just, hey, hoping it's different this time.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Yeah, right. And I mean the other, the only thing that's different about the plan is that, all right, if you've got, you've got a veteran point guard in there, presumably he's not going to tear his ACL again right before the season begins. That, I mean that does, that does smooth A lot of the issues that they had over last year, but also still, you know, it doesn't. Doesn't make you feel awesome about their. Their ability to fix some of the other issues that might arise during the season. It does. The running it back part I'm cool with, and I've come to terms with the fact that having a point guard on the team, a veteran point guard on the team should make a big, big difference, but that also he's going to be one year older. I would imagine he's going to. Just because of age and injury, that his defense might not be as much of an advantage for him coming off of that injury. It. That. It just. It still seems like a little bit of a half measure. Like, if you're. Even if you're a really good team, like every team in every sport after they win a championship, the coach will invariably, at some point say, well, it's never as simple as just coming back, and all of a sudden you're the same team. But it feels like the Rockets aren't even doing that. They're saying, like, well, no, we'll just, you know, we'll add a little thing, a few things around the edges, but by and large, we just want to run it back to July of 2025, you know, and we'll run back that version of what we wanted. And it's just. It's frustrating. It's a. Like, it's sometimes. Sometimes inaction is actually the best course of action. But there's got to be a limit to it, and there's. There's got to be a little bit more than just assuming that. Man, we had a good plan last year in July, before. Before. Before the injury, before the Van Vliet injury. So now we still think it's a really good plan.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, and I get that. It's just tough to try to run it back. It's almost like when you try to plan the perfect, like, date for your girlfriend or someone you're taking out on a date, and you have all these things lined up and like, okay, we're gonna do this, then we're gonna do this, then we're gonna do this. And just. Let's just say something went long and so, like, you missed the fireworks. That was supposed to be. We were all. We were supposed to be in the park at this time to see the fireworks, but dinner ran too long. And so the following week, it's like, hey, what are we doing Friday night? And you say, well, we're gonna try to do the same thing. We did last week. Except this time we're gonna make sure we see the fireworks. It's kind of lame. Like it's not very exciting to just try to do it again. It's like the people that try to duplicate. We had such a great date this one time. We had such a great trip to the Bahamas. Like, let's go back to that resort. And it's never quite the same when you try to do it again. It's never as good as you think it's going to be.

[Jimmy Conrad]

The thing that surprises me is that, you know, Fertitta was the owner when they rehired Vizdelik. Vizdelik had been with the Rockets. They were top five defense. He ended up kind of abruptly retiring because some kind of family situation and they fell off a cliff. Then they hired him back and I think the results weren't the same. But it was also after he'd had all this turmoil in his personal life. Somebody will correct me on the text line on the, on the timeline on all of that, but Fertitta has seen exactly the difference that it made when Mike d', Antoni, an offensive minded coach, had a counterpart in Jeff Bezdelic on his staff. And there doesn't seem to be any kind of wanted to go back to that. Well, of like, all right, let's, let's address things on multiple fronts. Let's, it's not just about the players on the court. It's about the entire system and the coaching staff and everything else like that. That's the part, the running it back from that perspective is actually in my mind worse than the running it back on the player side. So on the coaching side, what did we see last year? On the player side we saw, okay, boy, without Van Vliet in there, things really got gunked up offensively. And that is not the way it needs to look. But at the very least you can say, all right, well, but if Van Vliet comes back, then we won't have that same number of issues. But in going through that season, you saw very much the deficiencies of this coaching staff being able to engineer any kind of a dependable and reliable and structured offense in the absence of Jeff Van Vliet. Like why, let's, let's try to do something about that and maybe, maybe it will come at some point in the next month or two. But that's, it's kind of late to be adding the, like, all the, all the guys that want to coach and are good coaches are under contract right now on the under $3 menu at McDonald's, a sausage burrito is $2. So dip, drizzle, or douse to your heart's desire. Because no matter how you sauce your sausage burrito, it' just $2 limited time only.

[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it just. I think it's. It's like stubbornness. And it reminds me of when Nirvana was. Was putting together their iconic album and Kurt Cobain didn't want to layer his vocals. You know, just have two different tracks of his vocals doing both parts. And the producer said, hey, John Lennon did it. And then Kurt Cobain realized, like, okay, if it was cool enough for John Lennon, then I guess I can layer my vocals. And. And that's a bit of a deep cut of a reference. But my point being, if the spurs can do it, who are just in the NBA finals, and if Steve Kerr can do it, who's regarded as one of the best coaches in the league, and even he's like, yeah, I need an offensive coordinator, then IME Adoka and the Rockets should do it as well. And that stubbornness there of like, nah, we're good. We got this under control, when clearly you haven't. That's even more frustrating to me than. Than the lack of free agent signings, which. Which I can understand that a little bit better. There's more excuses you can make for that, but not for the coach.

[Jimmy Conrad]

I wonder, though. Okay, so you tell me you know a lot more about music than I do, but tell me if I'm here. The. The Beatles didn't start doing a lot of that stuff with layering vocals and everything until they started using the multi track recording. And that. That was, that was after they were already established that they would layer John Lennon's voice. Like when they were just a young raw band, they were like the, the, like the studio version of their songs was the same as their in concert version of the songs. Right?

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah, right. And so actually, for the Beatles, what happened, and it's why I think it really elevated them was they. They were touring so much. They finally stopped touring in like, whatever it was 1966, four years. They. They were just recording music and able to spend more time in the studio, which is why they were able to like experiment and do these different things and produce, I think, even greater music.

[Jimmy Conrad]

But that turns into. Yeah, and they didn't even want to perform live. But then you can't. You also can't replicate those songs in a live setting. I like. I like the guy. I like Kurt Cobain really screwed up on that. He's got a. He probably feels awful about it. He should have kept it as raw as possible to the point where the, like, you're. You're a young band. Like, you know, when you go to a Nirvana concert, you're going to get exactly what you hear about on the. What you. What you hear on the album. Damn it.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Conrad]

They're never going to make it, these kids.

[Seth Payne]

It's fair. Tom Petty was my favorite musician of all time, and I always hated when he played Free Falling live. At least in later years, he used his voice from, like the album copy as the backing track when he sang. Just so he was still singing in person, but then you'd hear it in the background. Is like almost like the harmony, the recorded version.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Like, poor to hire a singer to do it.

[Seth Payne]

I don't know why he did it. Well, his. His best background singer did pass away, but. But they had another guy, Scott Thurston, who was good. I don't know. I don't know why he did it, but that always annoyed me because. Yeah, to your point, it's like, I want to see you guys perform this live. I don't want to hear like a recording used in your concert. That's. That's weird to me, but so be it.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Rocky, I think we were talking about this. I had never realized that Dave Grohl's the Foo Fighters first album. He played every instrument on that. That like, that was him just like going into a studio and recording every instrument and him doing all the vocals. And everything. And like, so. So when he, when it came time to tour, he had to actually, like, find. Find an actual band for the Foo Fighters that wasn't just Dave Grohl. It would. He would add a hard time pulling off, playing every instrument and doing the vocals.

[Seth Payne]

That would be fascinating.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Which reminds me of that whole thing when, like Kanye into Beck the musician. Beck Hanson won like album of the year, I think it was. And Kanye disrespected him because I think it was supposed to be Beyonce. I think he did it twice. I think he did it once like Taylor Swift. But he also did it to back or people were upset that Beck won the album over Beyonce. But same thing. Beck. What people didn't realize was he did every album. He played every instrument on the album. He produced it himself. Like, that was true musical talent, as opposed to just singing and having 20 people write your songs and lay down

[Jimmy Conrad]

the equivalent of the social media videos. I really like where one dude does like three different characters on a social media.

[Seth Payne]

Exactly.

[Jimmy Conrad]

That's talent right there.

[Seth Payne]

That is tal.

[Jimmy Conrad]

I do like those.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Somebody's having an argument with himself, like just in a different costume.

[Seth Payne]

They throw a wig on or something.

[Jimmy Conrad]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Coming up, I will pay off the tees. We didn't get to it there, but Kevin Durant had some things to say. Also, we have yet to address or I guess even on this show, Pain and Pendergast, you guys have yet to address the Matt Miller story, and we got the video yesterday. Let's talk about it. Next, Payne and Pendergast, your package says

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[Seth Payne]

as the U.S.

[Jimmy Conrad]

men's National Team takes center stage at a home World cup, make sure you're listening to Call it what yout Want, part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network, where you can join me. I'm Jimmy Conrad alongside Charlie Davies, Tony

[Seth Payne]

Miola, Marcelo Balboa, and Benny Fieldhaber throughout

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[Seth Payne]

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[Jimmy Conrad]

Then all summer, we're back every Tuesday and Thursday, covering all things U.S. men's National Team. Download and follow Call it what you want on Apple Podcasts. Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Seth Payne]

Hey guys, Fly on the Wall is back for another season. That's right. On audio and video every Monday and Thursday. Follow and listen to Fly on the Wall everywhere you get your pod. Cass.