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The Boston Celtics’ European Vacation is all about bonding, forming a team chemistry that will help to carry the team into the regular season on a positive note.  We saw what happened during the summer of 2007 – the birth of Ubuntu.

And now here we are, about to embark on the 2012-13 campaign, and the team is again on a quest to find love, harmony and togetherness.  That’s great, and I’m all for it.  I think this team needs to hang, and to do so away from the fish bowl that is Greater Boston.  This team can take a look at the cross town Red Sox and understand what dysfunction can do to a locker room.  Now is the time for Doc Rivers and the Celtics players to come together and chart a course that, hopefully, will lead to the team’s 18th NBA Championship.

One thing is for sure – the bonds that form will be sorely tested at some point this season, perhaps not until the playoffs.  Winning a championship in this league isn’t easy, not with super teams in Los Angeles and Miami.

The fact that this team is so unselfish can only help foster a fresh wave of Ubuntu.  Rivers talks about it.  The players talk about it.  There aren’t any hidden agendas with this team – it’s a mix of hungry veterans that all want the same thing.  Of course that’s true in practically every training camp in the league during this time of year.  The difference is that our Celtics have a track record of teamwork and togetherness, of being a part of a system and not rocking the boat.  Even the new guys like Jason Terry and Courtney Lee are the consummate teammates.  This is a mission to win a championship, and to do so together.

Is that good enough to get it done?  No.  Togetherness only gets you so far.  You need talent, especially if you’re going up against LeBron James and his legion of super friends.  The Celtics have upgraded across the board, giving them one of the deepest teams in the league.  Couple this influx of talent with an unselfish mentality that starts with Kevin Garnett, and you have the potential to galvanize this team in a way that just might push it over the top and into the championship discussion.

Only time will tell.  It’s still early yet, and the Celtics are still in the process of figuring each other out.

If it happens, then we just may end up witnessing the sequel to Ubuntu.

Ubunt-two.