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Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

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Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

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  • #1

    Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

    Read these at your own risk.
    http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm

    MITCH ALBOM: Pacers couldn't even stop a clock

    May 18, 2005






    BY MITCH ALBOM
    FREE PRESS COLUMNIST



    Rick Carlisle wears a suit and tie and a dress shirt and dark socks and he's not allowed to play anyhow, so all he could do was call time-outs. Sometimes that's effective. And sometimes it's all you've got.


    We lost track of how many time-outs Carlisle, the Indiana coach, signaled for during the bloodletting that was the late second and third quarters Tuesday night. Suffice it to say, he spent the nest egg. Time out, ref. Time out, ref. Making a "T" with his hands. Touching his shoulders. Why bother, Rick? It was like trying to save the


    Titanic by scooping with a paper cup.


    Antonio McDyess and Ben Wallace had back-to-back dunks? "Time out," Carlisle asked. Detroit scored five more unanswered points? "Time out," Carlisle asked.


    Ben dunked again, Rip Hamilton finished a fast break, Tayshaun Prince hit a running jump shot? "Time out," Carlisle asked. The Pistons' defense smothered or altered nearly every Indiana shot? "Time out," Carlisle asked,


    You only get six time-outs a game, plus two 20-second versions that must be split between halves. Few at the scorer's table could remember the last time a coach used all his time-outs before the third quarter was 10 minutes gone.


    But that's how it was for Carlisle and Indiana in Game 5 at the Palace. What else could he do? The Pistons were overwhelming, and the Pacers were all thumbs. It was like trying to dodge raindrops in a thunderstorm. Like throwing darts at a charging bull. Like one of those heavyweight fights where all the battered boxer can do is clench and clench and then the ref breaks them apart and he clenches again.


    If this had been Little League, they would have invoked the mercy rule.


    By these are the playoffs. You know what they say to mercy?


    Fuggedaboutit.



    Nothing but bricks for Indy
    "Those two quarters" -- the second and third -- "were great," coach Larry Brown said after the 86-67 romp and the Pistons had a 3-2 lead in this Eastern Conference semifinal. "We made them work for every shot. We gave them, for the most part, one shot. That got us out on the break, and that got us some easy baskets, and easy baskets are so hard to come by in this series."


    You wouldn't know Tuesday night. While the Pistons dunked away, Indiana's woeful second quarter of 14 points was eclipsed by an even worse third quarter of 11 points. They missed 14 shots in a row. Their long ones were clanking. Their short ones were challenged, poked or swatted.


    Over a six-minute span in that third period, Detroit's lead went from seven points to 22 points. And I'm not talking gradually. I'm talking uninterrupted! It seemed like the Pistons were playing with nine guys. They chased down Indiana's misses. They hit dunks, jumpers and more dunks. They did whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted. They owned the ball the way "Desperate Housewives" owns magazine covers.


    You pretty much knew it was over when a long rebound came off an Indiana miss and two Pacers were converging on it and Chauncey Billups ran like a mugger from behind and fisted the ball up into the air -- and all the way down court to a solitary Rasheed Wallace, who plucked it for a jam.


    A few minutes later, Carlisle called his last stop in the action (with 2:31 left in the third and the Pistons up by 25) and he was officially unable to stop the clock anymore. His time-outs were ... out. Which is called what exactly? "Times out"? Whatever it is, did you know it was against the rules? You need to carry at least one time-out into the fourth quarter. If you don't, they can call a technical foul before it's over.


    So, as if the loss weren't bad enough for Carlisle, he could only watch with 2:17 left as the referees blew the whistle, charged his team with a "T," and Darko Milicic -- oh, the humanity! -- sank the free throw.


    "When you stink, you stink," Carlisle said, "and the last 31 minutes, we stunk."


    The last 31 minutes?



    Time to polish off the Pacers
    OK, Detroit. Now finish.


    Don't wipe your brow. Don't take a deep breath. Don't flick the sweat away from your eyes or shrug your shoulders thinking you'll come back with a tighter grip. End it. That has to the mind-set this morning or the Pistons will be back here for a Game 7 on the weekend. Remember. It looked this easy after Game 1 as well. Then the Pacers took the next two. The most dangerous team is a team with nothing to lose and a season on the line. Nobody will lie down Thursday night.


    Yes, it's true that the Pacers on Tuesday seemed intent on adopting a new team motto: "Less Than Zero."


    And yes, they look tired and shoot like Barney Fife. But that was Tuesday. All eyes are on Thursday.


    "We have to regroup in a big way,"


    Carlisle said.


    In the meantime, you have to feel, if only a little bit, for the former Pistons coach. What could he do? A total system shutdown? A 31-minute stretch that "stunk?" In the end, Carlisle was like a man with no quarters, standing by an expired parking meter as a cop writes him a ticket.


    Times out.


    And, if the Pistons have anything to say about it, time's up.


    MITCH ALBOM
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

    http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm
    DETROIT 86, INDIANA 67: Revenge of the fifth

    Pistons attack, take 3-2 lead
    May 18, 2005







    BY PERRY A. FARRELL
    FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER



    It was just one game, but it sure was a beating.


    From the 10:17 mark of the second quarter, when Tayshaun Prince was called for goaltending, the Pistons dominated play and beat the Indiana Pacers, 86-67, Tuesday night at the Palace.


    The victory gave the Pistons a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they can finish the series Thursday at Indiana.


    The Pacers went 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal spanning the second and third quarters. They scored 14 points in the second quarter and 11 in the third, a span in which the Pistons totaled 46 points, had a 30-4 run and took a 69-46 lead.


    "I thought the second and third quarters we defended about as well as we have all year," Pistons coach Larry Brown said.


    Prince scored 10 in the first quarter and finished with 16 points and a playoff career-high 12 rebounds. For the second time in the series Ben Wallace led the Pistons in scoring, getting 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. All five starters scored in double figures.


    "That happens when we come out and execute our sets and move the ball from side to side," Wallace said. "I rely on scoring my points on put-backs and us rotating the ball. ... When we're in our set defense we force them to make tough shots."


    Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Reggie Miller scored eight on 3-of-9 as the Pacers shot only 36.9%. The Pistons owned the boards, 52-34.


    "This is a true test of our will," O'Neal said. "We're just not making shots right now. We'll see. I think we still have it in us. We just have to make some changes defensively. Our bigs and our smalls have to collectively stay in and rebound. I think that's where we need to make some changes. Our defense does set up our offense. In the third quarter they came out with more will than we had. Detroit makes you pay for bad offensive possessions."


    The Pistons took a 42-35 halftime lead as backup guard Carlos Arroyo made four assists in the second quarter and led them on a 15-2 run.


    Then the Pistons really whipped up on the Pacers in the third, outscoring them, 27-11, holding them to 4-of-14 shooting and commanding the backboards, 17-4.


    "Tough night," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who used all four of his second-half time-outs in the third to try to slow the Pistons. "I was encouraged how we started the game. Seventeen minutes in, we were up four and then they went on a 15-2 run and things kind of snowballed from there.


    "The last 31 minutes certainly were not what we had in mind. The last 31 minutes were dismal. The last 31 minutes we stunk. Detroit raised their level of play and we didn't respond. We're disappointed but not distraught. We had an elimination game against Boston and we won a Game 7 in Boston. We're going to have to respond again at home."


    The Pacers didn't score in the third quarter until the 5:34 mark. The Pistons opened the quarter with a flourish. Rasheed Wallace hit two free throws for his first points of the game. Ben Wallace dunked. Richard Hamilton hit a jumper. Ben Wallace hit two free throws, and Prince nailed a floater in the lane. It was 52-35.


    It didn't get any better after the Pacers called time out. Ben Wallace made a nearly impossible tip. Rasheed Wallace got open in transition for a left-handed lay-in that gave the Pistons a 56-35 edge.


    Soon it was 61-40, then 65-40.


    Chauncey Billups put his signature on the quarter with a triple from the left baseline, giving the Pistons 27 points in the period and a 69-46 lead.


    "I thought those two quarters we were great," Brown said. "I felt like we made them work for every shot and we got out on the break. You have a hard time getting easy baskets when their defense is set."


    "Tonight was our night," Prince said. "We made some plays, got in the passing lanes and things went our way. In Game 4 we looked at it as a must-win and tonight we tried to come out and play the same way."


    Contact PERRY A. FARRELL

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

      TNT beating ESPN.

      http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm

      TNT in the ratings lead for cable

      May 18, 2005






      FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES



      TNT and ESPN are not often thought of as rivals. Both carry sports, but TNT bills itself as the network that knows drama, and ESPN promotes itself as the worldwide leader in sports.


      So it is a victory of sorts for TNT that in the three seasons since ESPN has carried the NBA, TNT usually garners higher ratings.


      There are reasons. TNT and TBS have carried NBA games for 21 years. Come playoff time, TNT carries many more games on many more nights. And its studio show is the hoops salon that ESPN's is not.


      "We consider ourselves, and our fans consider us, the home of the NBA," said David Levy, the president of Turner Sports and Entertainment.


      Partly through the second round of the playoffs, TNT's first 32 games produced a 2.5 cable rating, while ESPN's 14 telecasts generated a 2.3 (each cable rating point equals nearly 900,000 TV homes). ESPN is up by a tenth of a point over the same period last year, while TNT is down by the same amount.


      Levy discusses TNT's advantage as one built through longevity, volume and the ability to promote games on "Law & Order," "NYPD Blue," "Sex and the City," "Seinfeld" and other nonsports fare.


      "We can expand the reach of the audience beyond a sports audience," Levy said.


      Artie Bulgrin, ESPN's senior vice president for research and sales development, conceded that TNT had advantages, particularly the impact of carrying many more playoff games, which provide extra promotion for other games.


      "No question that helps by getting viewers into a certain routine," Bulgrin said, "and we have to compensate by talking about our scheduling on 'SportsCenter' and on our NBA support programming. And we leverage the power of our other media on the Internet, the radio and the magazine."


      Bulgrin doubted that promoting games on dramatic and comedy shows gives TNT much of a boost anymore, and he theorized that it was more important for games to have highly rated lead-in programs. But he said ESPN was still hindered, by a crucial smidgen, in the second round because TNT's games are carried exclusively, while ESPN goes against the teams' local telecasts.


      Carrying the Eastern Conference finals in its first two seasons, while some of the hotter teams were in the West also has hurt ESPN. That is reversed this year.


      Although much of the NBA's focus is on cable -- as designed by the league when it got more money from ESPN than NBC would pay to renew what it had -- the broadcast side is sagging. ABC's playoff rating this season has plunged 35 percent, reflecting a single problem: the absence of the Lakers, who produced two early-round ratings for ABC last year of 4.8 and 4.9.


      Without the Lakers, there are no mega-teams in reserve. Shaquille O'Neal's migration to Miami, even in tandem with Dwyane Wade, has not turned the Heat into a ratings magnet, at least not yet.


      The ratings darling so far has been Dallas, which beat Houston in seven games and now is tied, 2-2, with Phoenix. TNT's three top-rated games, and ESPN's highest-rated one, starred the Mavericks.


      "The Lakers were so dominant last year, with Kobe and Shaq," Levy said. "We won't get ratings spikes like that this year, but I think we're seeing more consistent, competitive rounds of games.


      "We don't have the Los Angeles and New York markets, but we're holding our own."

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

        This is an interesting article

        http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm

        PLAYOFF JOURNAL: Here's how they light up the night

        May 18, 2005






        BY NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA
        FREE PRESS COLUMNIST


        During the second quarter of the Pistons' playoff game Tuesday night, three police dogs walked past Dan Rehel, Don Pasternak and Greg Boyle at the Palace security door -- and didn't even stop for a sniff.


        "No residue on us!" Rehel said.


        The three guys cracked up.


        See, at a time when security is as tight as ever -- because regular-season games against the Pacers featured a brawl and a bomb threat -- Rehel, Pasternak and Boyle routinely walk into the building with explosives.


        They're part of the eight- to 10-man crew responsible for the pregame fireworks that make you jump, no matter how many times you've experienced them, even though you know they're coming.


        Their passes say "Pyro." It stands for "pyrotechnics," but it might as well stand for "pyromaniacs."


        Rehel, 22; Pasternak, 21; and Boyle, 21, make no bones about it. They love fire.


        "Oh, yeah."


        "Oh, yeah."


        "Most definitely."


        You think of Beavis from the old "Beavis and Butt-Head" cartoons on MTV, his eyes crazed, his fists shaking, shouting, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!"


        One of their bosses, Jon Gerych, laughed when he heard the dogs had left them alone.


        "They look like guys you'd want to stop," he joked.


        They were the kind of kids who played with firecrackers. Growing up in Roseville, Pasternak used to shoot model rocket engines across fields -- and, well, one time he lit up an entire field. The fire department came. He got in big trouble.


        "I got my butt kicked," he said. "I was grounded for forever, I think it was."


        Now it's a job.


        They work for Band-Ayd Systems, a company that does sound, lighting, staging, video and special effects for events.


        They arrive at the Palace about three or four hours before game time with about 200 pounds of propane, 40 grams of concussion powder and everything else they need to go boom. They get checked by security and the fire marshal, then get checked again after they set up.


        They erect tall metal stands behind the baskets. Each has a large flame sandwiched by small ones -- and a name. They call one Rodan and the other Ghidorah, after fire-breathing monsters in Godzilla movies.


        How powerful are the flames? Let's put it this way. Your typical gas grill has about 25,000 to 30,000 BTUs. Each of these stands has about 1.5 million BTUs. The heat is so intense you can feel it from far away. It has rolled over the banners in the rafters.


        Everything is controlled by a computer, safety precautions are in place, and when the time is right ...


        "We just light it all off," Pasternak said.


        "Blow it up," Boyle said.


        When the show's over, they have 45 seconds to take everything down so the real fireworks -- Pistons vs. Pacers -- can begin.


        In all seriousness, these guys are professionals. They have done their thing for every playoff game and for a few big regular-season games. Only once have they been stopped, and it wasn't their fault.


        They were supposed to light it all off, blow it up, March 25. But that game was against Indiana. That was the game when the bomb threats were called in.


        Said Boyle: "We weren't allowed to do it that day."


        Contac

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

          http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm

          Pacers 'plain-out got embarrassed'

          Indiana forward Jackson heated after 19-point drubbing
          May 18, 2005







          BY HELENE ST. JAMES
          FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER



          After the Pacers needed more than six minutes to score in the third quarter, after the Pacers were assessed a technical foul for excessive timeouts, after the Pistons had schooled the Pacers in how to play playoff basketball, Stephen Jackson let loose.


          THEY HAD NO SHOT
          The Pacers' shooting slump continued as they made just 24 of 65 shots (36.9 percent) in Game 5. Their quarter-by-quarter stats:
          QTR FG PCT SCORE
          1st 10-19 52.6% Det. 23-21
          2nd 3-16 18.8% Det. 42-35
          3rd 4-14 28.6% Det. 69-46
          4th 7-16 43.8% Det. 86-67


          He sat in the corner of the visitor's dressing room at the Palace, 12, maybe 14 minutes after the Pacers had lost, 86-67, in a game in which they trailed by as many as 28 points.


          "We didn't come to play," Jackson said. "We didn't realize what we had at stake. We need to look in the mirror and figure out what we're going to do to come back here for Game 7. We just plain-out got embarrassed. I mean it's uncalled for to get beat like this in Game 5. It makes no sense."


          The Pacers go home now, down 3-2 in their second-round series, but having Game 6 Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse is hardly a beacon of comfort. Already these playoffs the Pacers lost at home twice to Boston in the first round, and they lost Game 4 there Sunday to Detroit. If they don't improve on Tuesday's disaster, where at one point they missed 14 shots in a row, it's a wrap.


          "It makes no sense," Jackson reiterated. "There's no answer that I can give you all why we got beat like this in Game 5 of the playoffs, with the chance to go to the Eastern Conference Finals. There's no excuse. We just got outplayed from beginning to the end. We've got to be smarter; we've got to help each other. We've got to want to win. We just went out and went through the motions. We weren't even trying to win this game."


          After shooting 52.6% in the first quarter, the Pacers shot just 18.8% in the second quarter. When Jeff Foster dribbled inside and threw the ball up and through the net at 5:34 of the third quarter, it was Indiana's first field goal and first points of the quarter.


          "It's embarrassing," Jackson said. "Do we want it bad enough? I mean, how do you get beat that bad in Game 5? I mean, I'm not taking anything from the Pistons; they played a fantastic game. They did what they had to do."


          The Pacers had taken a four-point lead when Anthony Johnson made two free throws, but then Ben Wallace tipped in a shot, signaling the beginning of the Pacers' demise. Wallace shot -- uncontested -- an alley-oop dunk and a reverse dunk before the second quarter ended, trashing the Pacers in the paint while the Pacers themselves were unable to make a dent. It didn't matter where the Pacers set up -- Jamaal Tinsley missed a lay-up, Jermaine O'Neal a mid-range jumper, Reggie Miller a long-range jumper. Coming off pick and rolls players were intercepted and pushed back out; in the paint the Pistons' big men swatted away shots like flies.


          "They wanted it more," Jackson said. "We played like we didn't belong in the NBA."


          Contact HELENE ST. JAMES at 313-222-2295 or stjames@freepress.com.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

            http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm


            Pistons attack, take 3-2 lead
            May 18, 2005







            BY PERRY A. FARRELL
            FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER



            It was just one game, but it sure was a beating.


            THIRD WATCH
            The Pacers had a disastrous third quarter Tuesday night. It took them 6:26 to score their first points during which the Pistons were on a 15-0 run: The stats:
            DET IND
            Points 27 11
            Fast-break points 8 0
            Field goals 9-21 4-14
            Free throws 8-10 2-2
            Rebounds 17 4
            Blocks 3 0
            Steals 4 2
            Turnovers 3 5


            From the 10:17 mark of the second quarter, when Tayshaun Prince was called for goaltending, the Pistons dominated play and beat the Indiana Pacers, 86-67, Tuesday night at the Palace.


            The victory gave the Pistons a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they can finish the series Thursday at Indiana.


            The Pacers went 10 1/2 minutes without a field goal spanning the second and third quarters. They scored 14 points in the second quarter and 11 in the third, a span in which the Pistons totaled 46 points, had a 30-4 run and took a 69-46 lead.


            "I thought the second and third quarters we defended about as well as we have all year," Pistons coach Larry Brown said.


            Prince scored 10 in the first quarter and finished with 16 points and a playoff career-high 12 rebounds. For the second time in the series Ben Wallace led the Pistons in scoring, getting 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots. All five starters scored in double figures.


            "That happens when we come out and execute our sets and move the ball from side to side," Wallace said. "I rely on scoring my points on put-backs and us rotating the ball. ... When we're in our set defense we force them to make tough shots."


            Jermaine O'Neal led the Pacers with 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Reggie Miller scored eight on 3-of-9 as the Pacers shot only 36.9%. The Pistons owned the boards, 52-34.


            "This is a true test of our will," O'Neal said. "We're just not making shots right now. We'll see. I think we still have it in us. We just have to make some changes defensively. Our bigs and our smalls have to collectively stay in and rebound. I think that's where we need to make some changes. Our defense does set up our offense. In the third quarter they came out with more will than we had. Detroit makes you pay for bad offensive possessions."


            The Pistons took a 42-35 halftime lead as backup guard Carlos Arroyo made four assists in the second quarter and led them on a 15-2 run.


            Then the Pistons really whipped up on the Pacers in the third, outscoring them, 27-11, holding them to 4-of-14 shooting and commanding the backboards, 17-4.


            "Tough night," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who used all four of his second-half time-outs in the third to try to slow the Pistons. "I was encouraged how we started the game. Seventeen minutes in, we were up four and then they went on a 15-2 run and things kind of snowballed from there.


            "The last 31 minutes certainly were not what we had in mind. The last 31 minutes were dismal. The last 31 minutes we stunk. Detroit raised their level of play and we didn't respond. We're disappointed but not distraught. We had an elimination game against Boston and we won a Game 7 in Boston. We're going to have to respond again at home."


            The Pacers didn't score in the third quarter until the 5:34 mark. The Pistons opened the quarter with a flourish. Rasheed Wallace hit two free throws for his first points of the game. Ben Wallace dunked. Richard Hamilton hit a jumper. Ben Wallace hit two free throws, and Prince nailed a floater in the lane. It was 52-35.


            It didn't get any better after the Pacers called time out. Ben Wallace made a nearly impossible tip. Rasheed Wallace got open in transition for a left-handed lay-in that gave the Pistons a 56-35 edge.


            Soon it was 61-40, then 65-40.


            Chauncey Billups put his signature on the quarter with a triple from the left baseline, giving the Pistons 27 points in the period and a 69-46 lead.


            "I thought those two quarters we were great," Brown said. "I felt like we made them work for every shot and we got out on the break. You have a hard time getting easy baskets when their defense is set."


            "Tonight was our night," Prince said. "We made some plays, got in the passing lanes and things went our way. In Game 4 we looked at it as a must-win and tonight we tried to come out and play the same way."


            Contact PERRY A. FARRELL

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

              http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm


              DREW SHARP: Big Ben needs no bell to silence Pacers

              May 18, 2005






              BY DREW SHARP
              FREE PRESS COLUMNIST



              The Big Ben bell tolled, and this time it was a death knell.


              Indiana knew it.


              With each Ben Wallace rebound and put-back slam off a missed shot Tuesday night, the gong that reverberated through the Palace shook America's sports darlings du jour back to reality.


              There wasn't much left to say after the Pistons pushed the Pacers one step closer to the edge of the cliff with an 86-67 victory in Game 5.


              And that's precisely the way Big Ben wanted it.


              He's the silent Wallace.


              There has been too much talking and not enough taking inventory in this second-round series to suit him. If Rasheed Wallace is the megaphone, then Ben is the dead mike -- heard only when the situation calls for a higher decibel level.


              The Pistons shouted at the top of their lungs in this game, reaching a defensive crescendo in the third quarter that was amazing even by their extraordinary standards.


              This was Ben's kind of moment -- just shut up and play. Let the results do all the talking.


              "What's there to say when you get this deep in the playoffs," Joe Dumars said afterward. "Talk is just clichés now. You show up and play. And we don't lose too often when Ben brings the energy like he did tonight. We feed off it."


              They got fat off it.


              The Pacers went nearly seven minutes in the third quarter without a point, succumbing to the immovable defensive front the Pistons placed before them. Jeff Foster finally ended the embarrassment, driving hard to the basket, the lone semblance of strength from the quickly wilting Pacers. It left even Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, shaking his head.


              But it shouldn't surprise. This team can reach exceptional degrees of stinginess when energy and execution intersect at equally high levels.


              "I don't feel like talking about what I'm going to do," Ben Wallace said. "I'm just going to out there and do it."


              Here's what he did: 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in 37 minutes. In the third quarter, when the Pistons outscored Indiana, 27-11, Wallace had seven points, four rebounds and one block.


              Everyone talked about how the series wasn't over, but who's kidding whom? The charade might get an extension through the weekend, but the Pistons will move on to the Eastern Conference finals.


              Success for Indiana is pushing the Pistons enough that it might cost them in the next round or perhaps the NBA Finals.


              But please, enough with the condolences for the poor Pacers and how their rise from the rubble of Ron Artest's anger ranks just shy of Helen Keller's first words. They lament about the obstacles thrust before them, using the suspensions after the Nov. 19 brawl at the Palace as the motivation for their rehabilitation. They have played the victim card to the point of nausea.


              Conveniently lost in this touchy-feely story of perseverance is that the Pacers placed themselves in this predicament. They foolishly lowered themselves to the level of those determined to bait them.


              They screwed up.


              They're the reason they came into the series with no chance of enduring a best-of-seven endurance race. They had nothing left in the tank, while the Pistons got their second wind.


              Just as they always do, the Pistons looked to Ben Wallace for that added jolt of energy.


              "This was one of our best defensive performances," Wallace said. "We were able to get stops early with our defensive sets. We didn't wait until later, and when we get those stops with our regular defensive sets, we're pretty tough to beat."


              You're impossible to beat when you hold your opponent scoreless for almost seven minutes. The Pacers were left frustrated and defenseless.


              They're out of excuses now, and worse yet, out of options.


              Contact DREW SHARP at 313-223-

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm


                MICHAEL ROSENBERG: Selfish? Pistons will pass

                Arroyo's playing, 'Sheed's cheering, all are producing
                May 18, 2005







                BY MICHAEL ROSENBERG
                FREE PRESS COLUMNIST



                Look, there's Rasheed Wallace, out on the floor, doing what champions do: talking to his teammates ... with his T-shirt on, and a towel over his shoulder, knowing full well that he was going back to the bench.


                And wow, check out Lindsey Hunter, sprinting out there to grab a loose ... teammate, for a high five.


                And hey, isn't that Carlos Arroyo, recently paroled from the Pistons bench, making gorgeous passes and firing up the crowd and acting like he's never been happier?


                Welcome to the Palace, where everybody feels like the king. The Pistons flattened Indiana so badly Tuesday night, the Pacers just faxed themselves back to Indianapolis.


                Technically, the Pistons won, 86-67, because they scored more points. Technically, the alley-oops count, and the ensuing celebrations on the bench do not.


                Except, of course, they do.


                Once again, the Pistons were led by a man they like to call "Who cares?" Oh, I guess on this night it was Tayshaun Prince. But the Pistons don't worry about that. You would sooner catch them studying the Japanese translation of The Complete Works of James Joyce than their own box scores.


                The Pistons blew it open midway through the game, when they outscored Indiana, 30-4. And frankly, it didn't seem that close.


                You want the best play? Forget the dunks. That's too easy. Besides, everybody dunked. At one point, out of sheer exhaustion, the Pistons' net called time out.


                No, if you want the best play of this whole crazy run, keep your eye on Chauncey Billups. There he is, all alone with the ball, and ... wait a second. Did he just give up a wide-open three-pointer, so he could pass to Prince?


                OK, so there's Prince, and ... whoa, what on Earth is going on? Prince just gave up an open three-pointer, just to pass across the court to Rip Hamilton.


                All right. Here's Hamilton. A fabulous shooter. All alone, with a chance for a three, and ...


                Now I'm confused.


                One of three things just happened.


                Either I have short-term memory loss, the Pistons just passed up another open three-pointer, or I have short-term memory loss.


                "That just tells you how unselfish we are," Hamilton said. "We know how important a possession is. Nobody is trying to take a quick three. We're just trying to grind it out."


                The Pistons led by 21 at the time. If you don't play selfishly when you're up 21, you get a lifetime ban from the Selfish NBA Players Association ("Where Nobody Pays Dues.")


                The Pistons never play selfishly. Ever. And everybody does something. The center, Ben Wallace, defends guards. The small forward, Prince, leads the fast-break. The highest-paid player, Rasheed Wallace, cheers for his lowest-paid teammates.


                "It's fun," Hamilton said. "It's fun when everybody's chipping in, everybody's helping each other. It's fun when everybody gets a piece of the puzzle."


                And everybody rebounds. It's funny to think that just a few days ago, people were wondering how the Pistons would keep Jeff Foster off the glass. I guess we can hold off on Foster's Hall of Fame induction.


                The Pistons are back to being rebounding machines, Jeff Foster is back to being Jeff Foster, and the Pacers are backed against a wall.


                Arroyo knows how they feel. A week ago, he couldn't get on the floor unless he grabbed a mop and a bucket. Tuesday night, he was a vital part of a huge victory.


                Arroyo entered the game at the start of the second quarter, and almost immediately, he made one really foolish pass, right to the Pacers' Anthony Johnson. Brown pulled him. You had to wonder if Arroyo would spend the night practicing the art of sitting.


                Nope. Brown sent Arroyo back in there. Brown pushed all the right buttons in this game. The coach is supposed to put his guys in position to succeed, and with this kind of success, Brown deserves a heap of credit.


                But on this team, who needs credit?


                Contact MICHAEL ROSENBERG

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                  http://www.freep.com/sports/pistons/...e_20050518.htm


                  WORKING OT: Steve Schrader takes a closer look at the NBA playoffs

                  May 18, 2005







                  TWO CENTS WORTH

                  •Nice try, Rick Carlisle. You can call time out, but you can't hide.


                  FRIENDLY FOES


                  Some people are wondering whether Rasheed Wallace should be fraternizing with the enemy during the playoffs -- in this case his good friend, Indiana forward Jermaine O'Neal.


                  It was well-publicized that Saturday night, while other Pistons were watching the Winky Wright-Felix Trinidad fight on TV together in Indianapolis, O'Neal invited 'Sheed to watch it at his house.


                  (Judging by the series, though, maybe Pacers fans should be more concerned about how all this is affecting Jermaine.)


                  Anyway, the criticism sounds like something Isiah Thomas said back in 1994, when he did a long interview with the Free Press' Mitch Albom as he left town for a job with the Raptors. Isiah put forth the theory that the passing of the torch to the Chicago Bulls might have been helped along by Joe Dumars' friendship with Michael Jordan.


                  "They got to be friends, so Jordan got to get inside our inner workings and find out who was who and what made this guy tick," Thomas said then. "When you look back on it, you see the games that he played in the media. ... It was masterful. ...


                  "I don't want to say that's the reason why they beat us, but all of a sudden, we weren't the big bad bear anymore. ... In competition ... you just can't let the guy know you as a person, because the thing that really drives you or scares him is the fear that he has of you."


                  Well, at least Joe and Michael didn't kiss before games, like Isiah and Magic Johnson used to.


                  BEST BETS


                  •TNT is springing for a new set for "Inside the NBA" next season, so it's auctioning off the old stuff for the Muscular Dystrophy Association on eBay. Bidding ends May 31 on items like the desk, the Kenny's Court backboard and the scoreboard.


                  •He didn't make the cover of the new Sports Illustrated -- it's MVP Steve Nash -- but Chauncey Billups gets some props in a sidebar, "The Smoothest-Running Piston," by Jack McCallum.


                  CLEVELAND ZEN


                  OK, we're getting tired of hearing where Phil Jackson might be coaching next season, but Dean Williams wanted to put in a pitch for Cleveland.


                  A businessman, Williams also is priest and leader of the Jijuyu-ji Zen Group there.


                  "I think Phil would find this a very comfortable place, culturally and spiritually," he told the N.Y. Times. "To have him come here, using Zen principles in the basketball arena, would be a wonderful thing for the spiritual community, for the whole city. People are talking about it, the conditions exist, and the karma is pointing in that direction."


                  BOTTOM LINE


                  •Chauncey Billups, asked if he planned on seeing "Revenge of the Sith": "I've never seen any of the 'Star Wars' movies, and I've never seen any 'Star Trek,' either. That's not my thing."


                  •Rick Carlisle, same question: "I didn't even know there was a new one coming out."

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                    I liked what Stephen Jackson had to say. He said the right things, and I KNOW he'll come to play on tursday. I wish I could say the same for everybody else.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                      The first article wasn't too bad - at least the writer essentially said, "Watch out Detroit - don't let up now."

                      Which based on the last 2 games is about all you can hope for.
                      The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                        For me, there is only one thing I hope for.

                        Find a way to win Game 6 so that if nothing else, we can put a royal scare into the Pistons in Game 7.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                          Originally posted by beast23
                          For me, there is only one thing I hope for.

                          Find a way to win Game 6 so that if nothing else, we can put a royal scare into the Pistons in Game 7.

                          There is also an extra day off between games 6 and 7

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                            We need the EXTRA Day now. This is what helped against the Celtics. We got some time to rest and try some new things. Now we are in deep ****! Hope we find the will to push it to 7!!!

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Warning - Wednesday articles out of Detroit

                              Dear God, Ben Wallace the silent assassin, lol. He NEVER gets frustrated or gives cheap shots, or celebrates, or talks trash, he just plays his game...

                              Sorry but your city isn't full of darlings, and it doesn't matter what Ronnie did after the cup was thrown. People always talk about how JO was way out of line when he got in the confrontation with Corliss Williamson, but Ben Wallace lost it as much as JO did that night.

                              Then for Ben to do it again in the bomb threat game was a joke.
                              "It's just unfortunate that we've been penalized so much this year and nothing has happened to the Pistons, the Palace or the city of Detroit," he said. "It's almost like it's always our fault. The league knows it. They should be ashamed of themselves to let the security be as lax as it is around here."

                              ----------------- Reggie Miller

                              Comment

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