Have the Boston Celtics lost Ubuntu?

[PLamb]

"According to Ubuntu, there exists a common link between us all and it is through this tie, through our interaction with our fellow human beings, that we discover our own human qualities. The Zulus would say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu", which means that a person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others."

"Ubuntu is the capacity in African culture to express compassion, reciprocity, dignity, harmony, and humanity in the interests of building and maintaining community. Ubuntu calls on us to believe and feel that: Your pain is my pain, my wealth is your wealth, and your salvation is my salvation."

http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=20359

Ubuntu, an interconnectedness that promotes community and the concept of when we are all one, we are stronger than we are separately one

This has been the core value of the Boston Celtics since training camp 2007

I have to ask given recent events, have the Boston Celtics lost Ubuntu?



Rajon Rondo discussed openly in public the different agendas of the people in the locker room

Danny Ainge has publicly put the blame of this team under achieving ways squarely on the shoulders of the players

While nursing rehabbing injuries Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce decided to participate in All-Star weekend rather than rest their hurting bodies

The constant ball movement and looking for the open man disappears for long portions of game as players have the ball stop with them as they look for their own shot

Glen Davis gets into a fist fight and breaks his hand rendering the excellent conditioning work he did in the off season useless as he gained back a lot of weight and sat out a good part of the beginning of the season

No matter the situation Rasheed Wallace and Kendrick Perkins refuse to keep their mouths shut and continue to accrue technical fouls to the point where both will be seeing suspensions soon enough

Horrible and lazy performances on the boards, with the control of the basketball and in shot selection have made it impossible for this team to hold leads




All of these things are about as far from the concept of Ubuntu as one could get in a "sacrifice for the team, we are all one only if we are all one together" attitude this team has had for the past 2 1/2 years

But since Christmas of 2009, this team has struggled and even in the good play of November and December the warning signs were there and went unheeded

So I ask, has this team lost Ubuntu or do they just need to come together, reaffirm their commitment to Ubuntu, and turn things around

I also want to say that if this team returns to their Ubuntu ways and style of play and loses, I will be fine with that

But I don't see it in their game, I don't hear Ubuntu coming out of their mouths in the media reports and I don't see it in the body language and camaraderie that this team used to show in pre game warm ups and in post game interviews and such

I just don't see it anymore and I desperately want to

If I see it and hear it and feel it in this team again and they just aren't good enough to win it all, I won't care

Some years you just aren't good enough to win it all and that's okay, I've lived through a lot more of those years with this team than championship years

But I want them to start sounding and acting and playing and looking like the team that believes that they are what they are because of who all the other people on that team is

UBUNTU!!!!

[Chris]

I think this is getting a little too abstract. 

I think in 2008, this team had a perfect combination of skills and personalities to meld together into a force.  Since then, certain skills have erroded (or left), while skills of others have developed.  And this new combination of skills does not fit together quite as well (or they have not learned how to make it fit). 

At the same time, there have been clashes of personalities, as the roles on the teams change, which has also eroded the chemistry.

So sure, you can say they lost "ubuntu", but really, I think this is much more of a case of a team in transition, that has either not accepted it, or just not figured out how to make it work yet.

[Q_FBE]

http://celticslife.com/

and click on this team has lost it's ubuntu.

<<Shrugs>>

[Brickowski]

Sure they have Ubuntu, but now it is the losing that is the shared experience, not winning.

[sk7326]

chemistry is a trailing indicator - not a leader ...

they did not lose ubuntu, they lost the ability to shoot the ball consistently and rebound with ability

[Finkelskyhook]

Hopefully they lose that godawful word and retain chemistry.

[dark_lord]

ubuntu was a special theme for the championship season.  we are a different team now, so it just doesnt fit and our play has reflected that. 

[dark_lord]

Hopefully they lose that godawful word and retain chemistry.

how is it a "godawful" word??  its a great word with a great meaning.

[PLamb]

Hopefully they lose that godawful word and retain chemistry.

how is it a "godawful" word??  its a great word with a great meaning.

Absolutely!

I loved the translation and meaning behind the word  that is such a part of African philosophy and way of life

It's why I started the thread with a brief description of it and the Zulu literal translation of the saying

[Andy Jick]

2008 is not walking through that door...

[clover]

I'm not sure they had Ubuntu in '08.  But their 'Big Three' ruled the roost and all three of them were hungry for a championship.  Whether or not they still run the team, they appear rather less hungry these days.

[RAcker]

Right now, it's a lack of confidence and it has spread throughout the team.  If that starting group could get back their swagger, everyone would.  It starts with them.

[celticsclay]

Right now, it's a lack of confidence and it has spread throughout the team.  If that starting group could get back their swagger, everyone would.  It starts with them.

How do you lose something intangible? I think I dropped my soul on the way to work today, luckily enough an old man pointed it out to me and I put it in a more secure place.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Right now, it's a lack of confidence and it has spread throughout the team.  If that starting group could get back their swagger, everyone would.  It starts with them.

How do you lose something intangible? I think I dropped my soul on the way to work today, luckily enough an old man pointed it out to me and I put it in a more secure place.

You might lose it to the devil.

[LarBrd33]

yes