i believe pierce is making a concerted effort to get his teammates more involved this season...he's passing up shots he normally takes.
that's the only difference i see...and i've waited years for pierce to do this. so what you (newguy) see as a negative, i only believe will make this team that much better.
He made that concerted effort last season, with great success as well... and he wasn't shooting under 40% for such a long period, he played better D, he had more rebounds and assists, too!! I understand, now that Ray Allen is on a roll, he should be taking more shots than last year!! And Rondo is setting these shots,having the ball in his hands for much more time, rebounding, penetrating, etc.... but it's not an excuse for Pierce being slow off the dribble, shooting so bad and stuff... In his first 8-9 games, I was the first to claim that he is more explosive than last year, he seemed to be so fresh(remember the crossover on Lebron at the premiere)!! But in this 12W streak we run, he has been absent, sorry to tell you that... At first it was on the offensive end, in the last 2-3 games he is absent at both ends! We are extremely lucky that Ray and Rondo have been exceptional lately... I see Paul, recognizing his shooting slump, he is shooting as many shots as needed to gain some rhythm while not harming the team! I'm happy he doesn't force them, but, even taking open shots, he is not dropping most of them! Especially from the 3PT line, his shooting has been...off-range, I don't wanna call it awful!
I have no problem if the team keeps winning games, the goal is the wins and the home court advantage after all!! But, talking about Pierce specifically, let me believe that it's not him playing like that(unselfishly as you consider) the reason why we win!! It's Ray Allen being huge, it's Rondo coming up big(today he was not that good but it's just one game), it's KG being KG, it's Perk improving his game significantly! It's not Paul Pierce, simply! Tell me a part of his play which has been good lately and I will accept it!
You'll say he will get better and step up! OK, the thing is that 10 out of 12 last games being mediocre is not sth to be worried about yet, but sth to look over?? yes, for sure...
Anyway, I don't get it as a matter of lacking intensity! I get it as an extended slump either it is caused by an injury or not, and I don't know which of these two cases would make me more concerned about...
I know, I'm a little harsh but wins make people complacent!! We shouldn't be... It's not the end of the world, but it ain't sth good either! In my opinion, Pierce is not taking less attempts by choice, he just recognizes that he's on a slump, that Allen is on fire, that Rondo is more in tune with Ray and Kevin, so he is attacking less for team's sake!! That's pretty mature from him and that's what he has to do, but I expect much more from an all-star player like PP! It's OK till now, it was a lot of fun, but c'mon, he needs to find his range someday! He can't quit shooting, "if you quit it, it quits you"(if I said that right)!! If the problem is the sprained hand, give him some days off, at least he will be better and ready when he comes back...