That’s the story as I know it. That’s the lore. I believe it is true but don’t know for sure. But it makes sense. He watched a crap-ton of movies; he knew what movies people liked; he learned what works and what doesn’t work (as someone mentioned above) to build tension and zippy dialogue etc.
Or as someone else once said “Tarantino only steals from the best”. Which I think is unfair, because we all learn our field of endeavor from others.
Well, he did once shoplift a copy of “Rum Punch.” Got caught, too.