I’m a Nets fan in the Bay, so I got to attend the game in SF last night. I’ve been rooting for this team since the Marbury days, and I just have to say: This is the first time in a really, really long time I’ve witnessed rotations that make sense.

Kidd was stuck working with a roster of egos who were past their prime but still expecting minutes. Kenny was a fantastic development coach but never quite figured out how to make the pieces fit in the moment. Nash was just a disaster in every conceivable way. JV is brilliant. He’s so keenly aware of what the team needs at any given moment and makes subs that lead to significant changes in our play. Whether we need more rebounding, or need to shift to hold the fort on defense, or need to play faster—whatever it is, he makes the move.

Last night was just remarkable. He got Clax out for a bit when he was taking a beating at the FT line then spent a bit of time bringing him in for defense and taking him out on offense to soften the toll it was clearly taking on him (and get his confidence back up for the end of the game when he LOCKED down the perimeter and brought it home for us). He brought in Sumner when Steph started cooking to get length and speed in Ky’s absence. He folded in Yuta when we needed more discipline and structure on the offensive end and kept slipping into sloppy ISOs. He’s just so in it.

I’ve seen so much to love about JV and I’m hoping he continues this trend and becomes our long-term coach. I still think this roster has some holes, but I love that JV patches them with strategy instead of trying to play the game he thinks we should play even without the roster to pull it off.