Count me among those who wondered whether the Johan move was a good one in 2017.
My concern was that he wouldn't be hands on enough if he were living in Russia. He quickly proved me wrong, bringing Mosconi hopefuls and team members to his academy in Russia, attending some major events in the US to watch/scout his players, putting his players in some European and WPA events, providing actual individualized instruction to his players, and arranging team vs team prep matches to further acclimate his team to the Mosconi Cup format. He also did well to bring on Jeremy Jones, one of America's greatest ever tacticians, to help school his team in how to play the percentages, and the two of them have succeeded marvelously together.
Agreed, hats off to Johan … and JJ, too.