Personally, I don't think it ever left ... I think that it has remained the focus of this team, despite the disruptions that have taken place over the last two seasons.
But I do believe that we've had some lapses in that focus, from injuries that ended up being more significant that first thought, to personnel changes and adapting to new systems, and a change in the chemistry of the team overall.
What I mean by that is that Rondo has finally reached the point where he realized it was time to become the floor general ... the leader on the court, directing plays and controlling the flow of the game.
I think that was a difficult transition, both for him taking on the added responsibility, and for the veterans on the team, handing that control over to a young guy who they now have to put their trust in completely.
I think the subtleties of those adaptations made for some tense times behind-the-scenes, and that kind of a major change in the chemistry of the players, can make for some difficult obstacles to overcome, especially when dealing with such big egos.
Whatever those lapses were about, I think we're beyond them at long last, and that those feelings of a team finally clicking and flowing together as a cohesive unit, have finally returned.
Maybe it's not so much a return of Ubuntu, but more a re-commitment to those principles, and a re-alignment of the roles of each player into something more defined, and the unification of the great team that we witnessed two seasons ago.
What do you think?
