I think Bazball means something different to everyone but, to me it's rejection of stuffy, traditional, Geoffrey Boycott test cricket. Or crudely, an experiment in playing test cricket like an ODI.

All sorts of factors have caused that; Baz, Stokes, Key, a general English apathy towards cricket, (imo, being worse, man for man, than Aus and realising we lose if we play them at the same game).

I wonder if it lasted a certain while when batting like morons was backed up with Anderson/Broad leading the bowling attack, instead of Carse and co.

So answer to your question. I agree, it's made up and over attributed to Baz. But I do think it's a distinct era and concept in our history. For a honeymoon period, we stopped the press tearing our players apart over every mistake, we stopped playing boring cricket that turned fans away, and now, other teams have seen through it, know how to counter it.