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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

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.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

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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Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

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  • Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

    http://www.hoopsworld.com/most-impro...r-lins-to-lose

    There are many players throughout the NBA who have improved their individual games and, therefore, are helping their respective teams. While there are countless other players who fit into this category, HOOPSWORLD takes a look at the five who may very well be in the running for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

    Evan Turner – Philadelphia 76ers
    After his rookie season, many were questioning whether Turner was worthy of being the number two selection in the draft. His rookie season was underwhelming to many, but averaging 7.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2 assists per game isn’t as bad. What was a concern at first was Turner’s play didn’t seem to improve to begin his second season in the NBA, despite the obstacle of improving during the lockout.

    Yet, as the Philadelphia 76ers became an early storyline in the NBA with their surprising play and winning percentage, Turner slowly began to turn it around, finding his niche on the team. While his stats for the season haven’t improved dramatically from his rookie season—he now averages 8.8 points, 6 rebounds and 2.6 assists—he has come up big for his team in crunch time recently. His play has been solid enough as of late to have those who questioned the selection now making the case he should be the player with the ball in his hands when the game is on the line.

    Kyle Lowry – Houston Rockets
    Lowry was already a solid player, but his stock grew to a near All-Star level in 2012. When the NBA nixed the deal that would have sent Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Rockets were placing a lot on the shoulders of the sixth-year player. They were banking on Lowry, his work ethic and his ability to improve. Although the deal didn’t happen, Lowry still was able to show the Rockets they were correct in placing that amount of faith in his game by averaging career-highs in most categories.

    Currently, Lowry averages 15.9 points, 7.2 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game. There was a valid case to be made that he should have represented the Rockets in the All-Star game this year, but Lowry shouldn’t worry. All-Star games are going to be a part of his future soon.

    Paul George – Indiana Pacers
    The second-year guard/forward for the Indiana Pacers has really taken the next step in his development during this lockout-shortened season. George has so much potential that some have a difficult time accepting the “limited” amount of production he gives to his team now, as they expect him to be a superstar right away. It takes time to develop into a complete player, but George has shown the work ethic to improve this year and there is no reason to believe he won’t continue to do so going forward.

    That is, if averaging 12.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game while helping your team to a record of ten games over .500 is something to improve on. His athleticism is extraordinary and as he continues to learn what he is capable of accomplishing, his numbers will continue to rise. George should be a fixture in Indiana for years to come.


    Nikola Pekovic – Minnesota Timberwolves
    Entering this season, the Minnesota Timberwolves pretty much expected nothing out of Nikola Pekovic. During his rookie season, Pekovic could barely stay on the floor, always in foul trouble, averaging only 13.6 minutes and not finding a way to adjust to the NBA game. The expectations for Pekovic were so low that the Timberwolves continued to list both Anthony Randolph and Darko Milicic above him in the rotation.

    Then, something funny happened. Rick Adelman figured out Darko Milicic wasn’t the answer at center and in a “what the heck” sort of move, started Pekovic and “Pek” took full advantage of the opportunity. He is averaging 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds on 56% shooting from the field. Pekovic’s play in the post has been nearly a perfect complement to Kevin Love’s game, helping the Timberwolves to their best season in years.

    Jeremy Lin – New York Knicks
    Is there really any question as to who will come away with the Most Improved Player award this season? Jeremy Lin essentially came out of nowhere, the NBA took notice and the world came to know a new term in “Linsanity.” Correction, it wasn’t just the NBA world who took notice; it was anyone who had access to a television, radio or internet connection.

    Since truly receiving a shot to show what he’s capable of on Feb. 4, Lin has proven nearly all the doubters wrong. The stats have come back to Earth after the initial explosion, but 14.6 points, 6.1 assists and 3.1 rebounds are fine numbers, especially for a player who came out of nowhere. While Linsanity has died down slightly, Lin is still a vital piece to the Knicks’ attack and their attempt to remain in the playoff race. As the pressure builds, Lin will need to be one of the main players to step up and lead them to the postseason.

    Quite simply, the Most Improved Player award was Jeremy Lin’s to lose mid-February and he hasn’t done anything to lessen his grip on the award.
    Sittin on top of the world!

  • #2
    Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

    It would be very hard to argue against this, in fact I can't even think of one reason why he shouldn't be the most improved player.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

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    • #3
      Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

      From almost falling out of the league, to a sensation and starter for the NY Knicks.. Most improved player of the year.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

        jeremy lin is never on sports center..... PG has been on the top 10 a couple of times..... but ESPN has never showed a Lin highlight..... who is he exactly?

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

          If I were giving out the award, I would choose Nikola Pekovic. Lin is obviously a great player and a great story, but he played less than 300 minutes during his rookie season. Did he really improve so much in between seasons, or was he just given a proper chance? Pekovic, on the other hand, struggled mightily his rookie year, and now he's the Timberwolves' third most important player. Also, I hate the Knicks again.

          Comment


          • #6
            I personally think it should be Hayward or PG, but it will Puss... I mean Lin.


            Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
            Senior at the University of Louisville.
            Greenfield ---> The Ville

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

              Most Lin-proved Player...


              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                I don't really care if he wins the award or not but I think Jeremy Lin deserves it the most.

                Anyone know what Paul George has been averaging since the All-Star break? His numbers seem to be peaking at just the right time. He's certainly an improved player from the start of the season let alone his rookie season.
                Last edited by naptownmenace; 03-28-2012, 03:31 PM.

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                • #9
                  Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                  Lin will get it and deserves it. I'd take PG 10 out of 10 times on my team moving forward.

                  Part of me thinks, we've seen the best stretch of what Lin will ever play, already.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                    Lin deserves it.

                    I've never been big on awarding the MIP to talented sophomore's for making expected improvements from their rookie year. I was always against that so I would be a hypocrite to think PG deserves it now.
                    "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

                    - ilive4sports

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                    • #11
                      Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                      Originally posted by Speed View Post
                      Lin will get it and deserves it. I'd take PG 10 out of 10 times on my team moving forward.

                      Part of me thinks, we've seen the best stretch of what Lin will ever play, already.
                      Yes. D'Antoni is gone. The smart PG system will be gone. That is the only reason he did well. Shumpert is the PG of the future, and I think they know it. It wouldn't suprise me to see them let Lin walk, unless they feel his marketability is too great to lose.
                      Senior at the University of Louisville.
                      Greenfield ---> The Ville

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                        Originally posted by Steagles View Post
                        Yes. D'Antoni is gone. The smart PG system will be gone. That is the only reason he did well. Shumpert is the PG of the future, and I think they know it. It wouldn't suprise me to see them let Lin walk, unless they feel his marketability is too great to lose.
                        Shumpert is not even close to a PG. Lin's the PG of the future unless it's obvious he can't do it. (And it hasn't been so far) simply because of marketability.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                          Originally posted by Peck View Post
                          It would be very hard to argue against this, in fact I can't even think of one reason why he shouldn't be the most improved player.
                          Well to play devils advocate


                          It aint hard to go up when you start at the bottom
                          Sittin on top of the world!

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                          • #14
                            Re: Most Improved Player: Lin’s to Lose?

                            Gortat??????
                            "So, which one of you guys is going to come in second?" - Larry Bird before the 3 point contest. He won.


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