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

Ainge often said at the end of last season that Boston was trying to figure out which players on its roster would be “on the bus” moving ahead. For a young team in the building process, identifying those building blocks is important to roster construction.

Plenty can be gauged over the course of a season. But the playoffs provide a big stage to see how these young players perform when the intensity is cranked up.

[…] Playing under the bright lights of the playoffs and against one of the best teams in the league can help Ainge and the Celtics’ front office better evaluate who on the roster is capable of stepping up when the games matter more.

Rookie Marcus Smart hasn’t been perfect, but last year’s No. 6 pick has had a nice postseason and will be an impact player in this league. The Celtics should do whatever it takes to keep gritty Jae Crowder in green (and will have the ability to match any offers he receives as a restricted free agent).

ESPN Boston: Sweeping aside playoff naysayers

This isn’t the first “on the bus” analogy we’ve heard from the Celtics organization. It comes from the book “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap… And Others Don’t.”  It lays out seven basic characteristics of companies that made the jump to greatness:

• Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what’s best for the company.
• First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.
• Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox—Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.
• Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What lights your fire (“passion”)? What could you be best in the world at (“best at”)? What makes you money (“driving resource”)?
• Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese.
• Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept.
• The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest.

Just look at all of those things and tell me they don’t encompass this Celtics team and organization.

Brad Stevens is the epitome of a Level 5 leader. He’s clearly striving to be that driven, humble leader that puts the team first. We’ve heard his philosophy of guys being great at what their good at (hedgehog concept). The culture of discipline is clear… this team goes out and does its job daily in a disciplined manner. He said after Game 3 that when you look at the enormous effects of not doing the little things, there really are no “little things” (the flywheel). The team is known for its use of technology and analytics to accelerate its growth. And then there are the two remaining aspects that fall under Danny Ainge’s domain….

Confronting brutal facts is something Ainge has done multiple times. He’s traded Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Jeff Green after confronting a lot of brutal facts about this team. He did the same with Doc Rivers. He’ll do the same this summer with a team that surprisingly made the playoffs and has grown quite popular with the fans.

For many people reading this right now, this team feels like it’s just a player or two away from really being a contender. That might not really be the case, though. For Ainge, he might have to confront a brutal fact that this team was a lightning-in-a-bottle success story that was fueled by the right puzzle pieces fitting together at the right time, in the right conference, with the right things going wrong for other teams.

Which brings us to the last element… getting the right people on the bus.

There’s nothing like the playoffs to really expose people’s warts. As much as the Celtics are playing a free, “let’s just play hard and see what happens” style of play, the heat of the moment is a great way for a GM to get vital bits of information on a player.

For example… Jae Crowder is 100% unafraid of the moment. He doesn’t care if reanimated zombie Wilt Chamberlain is on the floor, he’ll go at him hard and play his game. That’s a guy you want on the bus.

Ainge has a lot of work to do to figure out who else will be on the bus, and where they’re going to sit. Isaiah Thomas wants to be at the front of the bus, but we’ve seen him struggle in this series. To be fair, a lot of guys will struggle against Iman Shumpert, but Thomas hasn’t been able to get into the groove that carried this team for two months. There may be some discussions about the reality of this situation for Thomas, and whether he’ll be happy with his seat as this bus keeps rolling along.

Regardless of who is here and in which capacity, there is one thing that is abundantly clear: Brad Stevens will move forward with 100% investment in the men who are 100% invested in him and the team. And if anyone wants off the ride, the bus will pull over and let him off.

This is the kind of approach that breeds success. Gregg Popovich, a great example of this mentality, has praised Stevens for his honesty with players. A HUGE part of why the Spurs have gotten a 100% buy-in from everyone is that Pop is honest with the guys on the team. He treats them like grown ups, and he expects them to act like grown ups.

Of course, Pop expresses himself differently than Stevens. But the approach is the same. This is the plan. No bullshit, no mind games, no agendas. The plan is in place for us all to succeed as a group.

It’s like the phalanx in the movie 300. The team is stronger when they act together in a unified group. If one guy goes off on his own, it ruins the whole thing. But if everyone is together in this, then everyone succeeds, and everyone benefits.

If you don’t want to be a part of that, no big deal. Ainge and Stevens will give you a handshake, a smile, a “good luck,” and let you off the bus knowing that the rest of the team is stronger without someone who doesn’t want to be part of this team.

Related links: Herald: How do the playoffs fit in Celtics’ timeline for success?

Page 2: Cleveland columnist with absolutely no self-awareness blasts Celtics fans

They spewed some of the most offensive and demeaning insults imaginable. It might have caused the late Richard Pryor to cringe (OK, maybe not). And they never let up. This went on from the first quarter to the closing minutes. Some of the taunts were creative, but a lot was horrendous and classless.

Most of the malicious jeers were aimed towards LeBron James, as they attacked his mother, manhood and anything else they could conceive.

A nice, sweet-looking young lady screamed, “LeBron’s a b****,” from the top of her lungs, and then she looked around to see everyone’s response with an innocent-looking grin on her face.

Cleveland.com: Boston fans’ taunts of LeBron backfire

So the guy who writes for a paper in the city that LeBron spurned is ripping fans in Boston for yelling and swearing at LeBron?

Because… what, Cleveland fans are symbols of decorum? I’m sure these fans were being very respectful. Or these guys. Or these guys. Or these guys….

It’s simple… as long as the taunts don’t cross a line into something like racism, then it’s just fans enjoying the intensity of a playoff game. Yeah, so a girl yelled LeBron is a bitch. That’s kind of her thing. People in Cleveland, the people now cheering for him like crazy, probably said the same or worse.

Have a little self-awareness about what just happened a few short years ago before trying to blast another city’s fans.

And finally…

Paul Pierce is a bad mother…

“That’s why I’m here!”

I still love that guy. He’s about to end the Raptors’ season again. Canada should have revoked whatever work visa he needed to get into the country. That was the only chance they had this series.

By the way, after all the talk about how epic all the series were going to be out West, the only series that’s competitive right now is Spurs-Clippers… and even that’s up for debate after the complete annihilation of the Clips last night. By Monday night, Golden State, Memphis, and Houston could be finished with their sweeps of the first round.

The rest of the links

Globe: Celtics physical play leaves Cavs unfazed  |  Herald: Cavs better due to James’ departure  |  Shoot, Gigi belongs in the NBA  | CSNNE: Welsh: Stevens great coaching fit for Love  |  Blakely: no shock C’s down 0-3  |  Celtics won’t go down without a fight  |  Maxwell: As an alumnus, proud to see Celtics stay in game  |  ESPN Boston: Derek Fisher’s admiration for coach Stevens  |  Thompson’s offensive boards fueling Cavs