MILWAUKEE – Within an offense catering toward inefficient isolation sets a season ago, Brook Lopez had seen critical possessions gone astray under motionless one-on-one plays, under the watch of Avery Johnson and P.J. Carlesimo. For Lopez, there was a private belief that a more spirited offense best benefited the Brooklyn Nets, and that had been part of the lure of Jason Kidd.

Early in training camp, Kidd sold his Nets on a lively offensive system, Deron Williams pushing the fastbreak as Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce spread the floor, as Lopez and Kevin Garnett fill the lane. Injuries haven’t allowed those players to bring Kidd’s vision to fruition, but mostly no one has shown the assertiveness to save these Nets – no one but Lopez.

After pouring in a graceful 32 points on 11-for-13 shooting – on effortless jumpers and disciplined post-ups – in the Nets’ 90-82 win over the Bucks on Saturday night, Lopez nodded about his continued maturation into the decisive, go-to scorer Kidd desperately needs with a depleted roster. A year ago, Lopez would always speak as the ultimate role player citing a need to get others a flow on offense, before himself. A year ago, the skilled seven-footer was pushed away from the block far too often and at times resisted constant feeds inside.

No more.

“I’m just trying to be more patient on the block, patient reading all the options to attack,” Lopez told RealGM. “There’s a lot more ball movement, and everyone on the floor is getting a lot more opportunities.”

Compared to last season?

“It was very stagnant last year,” Lopez said.

Despite everyone’s talk about Kidd’s issues as a first-year coach, despite the Nets’ fumble on the hire of Lawrence Frank, the fact remains that Williams has played just nine games and has performed below his past All-Star state. Andrei Kirilenko has missed all but four games, occurring setback after setback in his back, and the injury list goes on and on.

For all the missed games from players this season, none drowned the Nets more than the seven that Lopez missed last month. They had a 1-6 record to show for the 12 days Lopez had to sit out because of a sprained ankle, and it’s no coincidence this sluggish team has gone 4-4 when the 25-year-old scores at least 20 points.

Kidd hasn’t gained sympathy throughout the NBA for his spilled cup incident, nor for his handling over the hiring and demotion of Frank, but give him this: He’s committed to fully utilizing the guy – Lopez – whose previous coaches instead accommodated to players around him.

“Brook lets the ball come to him, and then he finds the open guys,” Kidd said. “That’s what makes this team special, because it’s not just Brook. It’s everybody moving the ball.

“We’re going to slow it down. We’re going to try to get the ball inside.”

The trick Kidd used for the late stoppage of play against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 27 opened him up to everyone’s shots at his coaching acumen, how it was an amateur move. Yet, players league-wide applauded the rookie coach for pulling the stunt to give his team an edge, and it demonstrated the mentality that Kidd had as a player – win at all costs.

The second-year player involved in the cup job, Tyshawn Taylor, admits he was caught off guard when Kidd told him that night, “Hit me.” Here was a respectful, dedicated Taylor, lost in the moment.

“I really didn’t know what was going on,” Taylor told RealGM. “I’ve seen the video, but I wasn’t really paying attention when that happened. His words got caught on camera, but with a whole crowd, a packed arena, I couldn’t pay attention.”

No matter. The Nets’ season won’t be decided by the cup situation, as much as Kidd agreed he should have known better, especially in this media age. They know the importance of the rest of this month, and Lopez pointed specifically to the next three games – at home against the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers, then at the Detroit Pistons. “But it’s on us to string together the wins,” Lopez said.

From stagnancy to all sorts of movement around him, Lopez is establishing himself with more force now, and this had been part of Jason Kidd’s coaching pitch about a revamped, passing offense. For all the missteps, yes, the future Hall of Fame point guard has come to understand: not much stops Brook Lopez in the post anymore.