Paul Pierce is in charge of The Switch

[Jeff]

Think about it.

Kevin Garnett = always on (or at least always intense)
Ray Allen = always takes what the offense gives him (sometimes frustratingly so)
Rajon Rondo - sometimes he's hot and cold, and he's a close second with regards to The Switch, but he's still not the Captain

Paul Pierce is the Captain and when he decides that it is time to go, the team follows him (as they should)

read this:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2011/04/01/captain_issues_orders/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Boston+Celtics+news

thinking back over his career, there have absolutely been periods where Paul took his foot off the accelerator and the team followed suit

yet, when he's focused and locked in, there's no denying him

I don't know if this realization frustrates me or gives me great confidence or maybe a little bit of both, but I'd be interested in other people's thoughts on the matter.

[jgod213]

I'm 100% on board with this, Jeff.

I remember watching games early in the season and saying to myself and friends something along the lines of "I haven't seen Paul take it hard to the rim and dunk like this in 5 years." 

I sincerely believe that Paul tires out as the season goes on and that, for health and endurance reasons, he has to tone it down a bit offensively to keep up with his defensive responsibilities.  In the beginning of the season he still has that bounce in his step that allows him to go all out offensively...but he knows how to save and store that energy as the season goes on so that he can harness it when it counts.

We're going to see a bad motha in PP once we get to the second season...

[GranTur]

Honestly, the biggest switch for this team happens on the boards, mainly from Pierce and Rondo.

Pierce and Rondo are two of the best rebounders for their position. Couple that with KG and Shaq/JO and the Celtics have the best rebounding team imo.

Unfortunately, this doesn't happen except for teams like Miami or San Antonio, or obviously during the playoffs.

But honestly, the entire team has that switch, even KG. The switch is not lack of motivation. It's fear of getting injured over putting in an extra 20% of effort. If the Celtics went 120% on the court for 82 games, they could win 65 games but would be absolute toast at the age they are at.