Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

No single player sums up the Celtics’ psyche at the moment like Olynyk. Once one of the Celtics’ leading scorers — and still one of four players on the team averaging double-digit points per game — Olynyk had a day to forget.

First, he was removed from the starting lineup. Stevens said it was for defensive purposes (not that replacement Tyler Zeller is a menace defensively), but the second-year big man is mired in a shooting slump that spread to the defensive end against the Spurs. Olynyk finished with three points on 1-for-6 shooting in 25 minutes, making him 2-for-17 from the floor in the last three games. He compounded his offensive struggles with by giving up layup after layup to Spurs backup center Aron Baynes — and, late in garbage time, he was the victim of a posterizing dunk by Jeff Ayres.

More than any other Celtic, Olynyk has looked uncertain, to the point of liability. After his forgettable Sunday, he didn’t offer much of a plan as to how he would live up to Stevens’ challenge of not letting discouraging plays pile up.

“You’ve just got to do it,” Olynyk said. “Plain and simple. You’ve got to go out there and do it.”

NESN – Kelly Olynyk, Celtics facing crisis of confidence after loss to Spurs

The Celtics wrapped up their November from hell with a 4-10 record against 11.5*, 2013-2014 playoff teams (the Bulls twice and the Suns are at least half a playoff team from last year, right?), one reloaded Cavs team and one 5th grade AAU team wearing 76ers jerseys. The chatter lately has been about the Celtics’ collective inability to close out games and play a complete, team game on both ends of the floor for a full 48 minutes, but there’s been sparse individual finger pointing (besides the eternal nit-picking of Rajon Rondo).

Well, December’s here and it’s time to point said finger at Kelly Olynyk. No one expected Olynyk to be a stalwart on the defensive end of the court, but he was presumably earning his starting role with his diverse offensive game, ability to space the floor and deft passing skills. After a promising rookie campaign, expectations were high for a big step forward in year two.

All of that has been absent over the last eight games in a string of bad basketball that hopefully hit its nadir over the Thanksgiving week. Kelly is -39 over his last eight games, has failed to score in two, has just seven points in his last three and in addition to being slapped onto the milk carton image above, now belongs on a Jeff Ayres poster that will probably never be made because, Jeff Ayres? Really?

In listing off positives from the first month of the season, near the top of the list is the fact that, for the most part, the Celtics haven’t shied away from stiff competition and are still standing on the other side with a softer slate of games in the month of December. But in order to get their torrid offensive pace back, they’re going to need the offensive skill-set of Kelly Olynyk, whose play, demeanor and overall discourse is devoid of any shred of confidence. He’ll need to find it, fast, or Tyler Zeller is going to continue to get plenty of his minutes.

Related Links: Mass Live – Kelly Olynyk’s rough stretch continues  

Page 2:  The beginning of a coaching bromance

Asked for his thoughts on Boston Celtics second-year coach Brad Stevens before Sunday’s game, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich dubbed him a “great coach” but politely declined to elaborate.

“C’mon,” Popovich said. “We’ll be here all day…”

…Stevens clearly values the relationship he’s formed with Popovich.

“I’ve gotten to know him; he’s been very gracious to me,” Stevens said. “I met with him both of our games [last season], after both of our games and before. Met with him a little bit prior to our coaches’ meeting [this year] and I just texted him and said, ‘Hey, can I pick your brain for a while?’ He’s very amiable to that. Then we text here and there. The only other thing I know is that we’re both from Indiana, so sometimes we talk about family and Indiana half the time, then we get back to basketball. But he’s been great to me. I really admire him.”

ESPNBoston – Notes: Popovich praises Stevens

Stevens went on to say, “when this season is all over, I think me and Pop should get an apartment together.”

Stevens is a basketball junkie who is serious about succeeding at this job. There’s no brighter beacon of success than the Spurs’ head man, who is one of the two or three best coaches in the history of the game. Now, if only Stevens can figure out how to have Pop’s 1997 lottery luck…

Related Links: CSNNE – Popovich: Brad Stevens is a ‘special guy’

And Finally… If this is KGs last season he’s going to fade into Bolivian

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uLtsPudXh4

Kevin Garnett tried to bite Joakim Noah during the Chicago Bulls‘ 102-84 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday. Noah couldn’t believe it either. The Bulls’ All-Star center has a long history with Garnett and admitted in the past that the future Hall of Famer is one of the players he looked up to most growing up. But even he couldn’t believe Garnett tried to gnaw at his fingers, even if it was in jest.

“He tried to bite me, man,” Noah said through laughter in the Bulls’ locker room. “That’s crazy, man. It’s unbelievable. Kevin Garnett tried to bite me, man. It’s unbelievable. I don’t even know what to say.”

Garnett had to laugh about it as well.

“I know how to bite somebody,” Garnett told reporters in the Nets’ locker room. “Obviously I was messing around in that moment. If I wanted to bite him, I’d have just … shout out to Mike Tyson.”

ESPN: KG on bite: ‘Shout out to Mike Tyson’

Never change, KG. Never change.