Thanks for great posts here. It is fun to watch and I was wondering "where it came from."
Of course this action has been around for a long time, but, as you've observed, they've been getting a lot of mileage out of it.
I suppose it came from this year's team.
"A lot of good shooters and some good passers." This sounds like most NBA teams, but, this year Walker tends to set up between 11AM and 1AM and opposing coaches have been asking for traps and "leans/help" to deal with his strong shooting.
Recently, trapping has been catching up with Tatum and I'm sure plays will be called for this beyond the obvious.
Except for Walker, this team has played a lot together over the last couple of years Watching them over this 9-1 run? Their defense has been as good as it gets and their offensive action better than earlier in the season. They are top 3 in the NBA in many categories.
My point is, the better they get, the tougher it is for individual defenders to make "effective decisions" when attempting to defend stuff like, Theis walking down the lane with an all star shooter in his wake.
Smart and Hayward like this action with all the bigs.
Theis has been getting more minutes as defenders aren't having much luck with him.
You guys know more about rules than I do, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.