The NBA game has changed from just a decade ago. Stuck-in-the-tar teams, such as the Bulls, need to notice.
For example, defensive players largely disregard picks these days. ‘‘Fight through it’’ has become ‘‘Ignore it.’’ Maybe you notice the way defenders whine in disbelief to refs after getting called for splattering into stationary foes.
Conversely, hooking with an arm — while setting a pick, when rolling, when rebounding, when dribbling to the basket — makes the game look, at times, like a square dance full of swing-your-partners and do-si-dos.
There is the dubious Euro step. There is the head-whipping flop.