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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.

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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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A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

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  • #1

    A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

    Feels great when national writers mention your team when talking about the elites in the East. Proud to be a Pacers fan and the season can't start soon enough...

    http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/0...=iref:nbahpt3a

    How do the top five teams in the Eastern Conference rank, right now?
    Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: 1. Miami, 2. Indiana, 3. Chicago, 4. Brooklyn, 5. New York. I do think the Pacers, the Bulls and even the Nets all might finish closer to the Heat than the Knicks did in 2012-13 – a 12-game gap in the standings – so yes, it will be a closer race. My Nos. 2-4 will be better through maturation (Indiana), returns (Chicago) or additions (Brooklyn), and all of them will beat up on the bottom seven or eight teams in the conference, further padding their records. But the two-time defending champs still have the best player in the league (by a wide margin), uber-confidence and that winning formula. Miami’s challengers would be wise not to over-exert for the No. 1 seed, saving their powder for springtime.

    Jeff Caplan, NBA.com: The Heat obviously remain the cream of the crop although they did not address their size issue (pending Greg Oden‘s decision) and they let go of Mike Miller. Sorry Brooklyn, but I’m putting Indiana No. 2. They nearly knocked off Miami in the East finals and every one of their guys (plus coach Frank Vogel) should come back better. Danny Granger is on the comeback trail and I like how Larry Bird beefed up the bench. Again, apologies to the Nets, but I’m going with Derrick Rose and the Bulls next. You know they’re going to bring monster defensive effort every night and with Rose back, the Bulls will actually score, too. OK, Nets, you guys are next. This is quite a collection of talent and they should win 50 games just by showing up. Health and rookie coach Jason Kidd are the wild cards here. Kidd has a lot of veteran egos to massage and a lot to prove under pressure. The Knicks bring up the rear among the top challengers. I’m not as down on the Andrea Bargnani trade as others, but I’m also not sure how much better they can be.
    Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: Heat, Bulls, Nets, Pacers, Knicks. The distance between 1 and 2 has closed because the closest challenger will get a lot better, probably. If Derrick Rose returns and is able to play at a high level, along with adding Mike Dunleavy via free agency, Chicago will take a step forward. It’s just after the waiting game with Rose last season, no one can say with any certainty when that return will happen.

    John Schuhmann, NBA.com: 1. Miami 2. Indiana 3. Brooklyn 4. Chicago 5. New York. And yes, things should be tighter between the Heat and Pacers , because Miami lost a weapon (Mike Miller), while Indiana gained a more potent bench with the additions of (the returning) Danny Granger, C.J. Watson and Chris Copeland. Furthermore, both Brooklyn (with all their weapons) and Chicago (with their defense and toughness) will be serious threats to the champs if they stay healthy enough. Can the season start now?

    Sekou Smith, NBA.com: The order hasn’t changed at all at the very top. Miami remains the true beast of the Eastern Conference and the league. Indiana, Chicago, Brooklyn and New York round out the top five for me … today. The Nets and Knicks could flip flop spots a dozen times between now and the start of training camp on my list. I have lingering questions about both outfits and how they will play with new faces in critical positions. I do not think the gap between the Heat and Pacers has tightened dramatically. It was already paper thin, based on what we saw in the Eastern Conference finals last season. The Pacers are the one legitimate challenger to the Heat, and by legitimate I mean not a theoretical challenger but one we’ve seen push the Heat to the limit in real time.

    Lang Whitaker, NBA.com’s All Ball blog: 1. Miami 2. Indiana 3. Chicago 4. Brooklyn 5. New York. I really like what Indy’s done this offseason in terms of adding to their bench, and adding a healthy Granger to the mix should be a huge boost. But will it jump them past Miami? I’m not sure how much closer they can get than they already were — after all, they pushed them to seven games in the Conference Finals just a few months back. Either way, I think the Heat are still the class of the East. It’s just that now they know for certain the Pacers are breathing down their necks.
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  • #2
    Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

    Great point from Sekou Smith--how much closer do we want the Pacers to get? They already pushed the Heat to seven.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

      Just by the way we played them in the ECF finals. I just think this is our year to get to the finals. Our starting 5 out performed Miami's the entire series. We just didn't have any fire power off the bench to keep us a float in the games we lost. Not to mention the final 2 sec bumble that cost us Game 1 and the series. We should improve vastly over last season. I'm thinking 57 games. I just think it is inevitable that we beat them this year, if we get chance to meet them in the playoffs. Chicago and Brooklyn will be very tough match ups for us, we will most likely have to beat one of them.
      You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

        Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
        Just by the way we played them in the ECF finals. I just think this is our year to get to the finals. Our starting 5 out performed Miami's the entire series. We just didn't have any fire power off the bench to keep us a float in the games we lost. Not to mention the final 2 sec bumble that cost us Game 1 and the series. We should improve vastly over last season. I'm thinking 57 games. I just think it is inevitable that we beat them this year, if we get chance to meet them in the playoffs. Chicago and Brooklyn will be very tough match ups for us, we will most likely have to beat one of them.
        I can agree with you so long as we don't have any big injuries.
        A starting 5 of Hill/PG/Granger/Hibbert is very intimidating, and should out perform even our starting 5 from last year, then our bench should not have a +/- of -20 or so, so that helps too... But as you saw with the Bulls last year, one injury is the difference between the 1 seed and the 5 seed so....
        #LanceEffect

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        • #5
          Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

          Ugh the season can't get here fast enough.
          "Missouri's former basketball coach Norm Stewart would traditionally have his players stay in Kansas City, Missouri, before playing at Kansas, going so far as to require the team bus to buy its gasoline at a Missouri filling station and reprimanding players who ate in Kansas, as he did not want to put any money into Kansas' economy."- MIZ-ZOU

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

            Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
            Just by the way we played them in the ECF finals. I just think this is our year to get to the finals. Our starting 5 out performed Miami's the entire series. We just didn't have any fire power off the bench to keep us a float in the games we lost. Not to mention the final 2 sec bumble that cost us Game 1 and the series. We should improve vastly over last season. I'm thinking 57 games. I just think it is inevitable that we beat them this year, if we get chance to meet them in the playoffs. Chicago and Brooklyn will be very tough match ups for us, we will most likely have to beat one of them.
            57 is a lot of games...

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

              Interesting for discussion: Whose #6 in the East?

              Lots of roster changes...

              Atlanta
              Milwaukee
              Boston
              Orlando
              Charlotte
              Cleveland
              Washington
              Philadelphia
              Toronto
              Detroit

              I'd have to say Washington and Cleveland. Won't be suprised if NY knicks slip. Not much depth and defense in their FC behind Chandler. See Melo playing the 4 with Artest at the 3. That team doesn't play much defense and seem built for the regular season like the Denver Nuggets - offense isn't a question.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                Originally posted by rexnom View Post
                Great point from Sekou Smith--how much closer do we want the Pacers to get? They already pushed the Heat to seven.
                As close as possible.....we want to be the 2nd seed in the East for Home Court all the way to the ECF. IMHO......Home Court isn't critical ( cuz I think that to Road Games for Elite Level Teams in the Playoffs are winnable )...but every little advantage helps.
                Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                  Originally posted by kmjohnson View Post
                  57 is a lot of games...
                  Their goal should be to get home court advantage. 57 wins probably won't be enough, but that is close.

                  57 wins should be a minimum they win.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                    Originally posted by MyFavMartin View Post
                    Interesting for discussion: Whose #6 in the East?

                    Lots of roster changes...

                    Atlanta
                    Milwaukee
                    Boston
                    Orlando
                    Charlotte
                    Cleveland
                    Washington
                    Philadelphia
                    Toronto
                    Detroit

                    I'd have to say Washington and Cleveland. Won't be suprised if NY knicks slip. Not much depth and defense in their FC behind Chandler. See Melo playing the 4 with Artest at the 3. That team doesn't play much defense and seem built for the regular season like the Denver Nuggets - offense isn't a question.
                    I honestly kinda like ATL @ 6... I like the addition of Jefferson... IMO he will add more value to that team than Smith did...

                    I know they kept Korver and Teague... But I'm forgetting... Didn't they add a good big off the bench as well?
                    Nothing in life worth having comes easy.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                      Atlanta, IMO, at least. Lots of questions on the rest. Maybe Detroit. Maybe Toronto. But Detroit, Cleveland, Washington and Toronto could be decent, but none of them has had the experience of grinding out wins game after game. They could be good for games against good teams, but lack the focus to win the rest of the games that week. ATL at least has been a good team. and they do have some good players.

                      Originally posted by MyFavMartin View Post
                      Interesting for discussion: Whose #6 in the East?

                      Lots of roster changes...

                      Atlanta
                      Milwaukee
                      Boston
                      Orlando
                      Charlotte
                      Cleveland
                      Washington
                      Philadelphia
                      Toronto
                      Detroit

                      I'd have to say Washington and Cleveland. Won't be suprised if NY knicks slip. Not much depth and defense in their FC behind Chandler. See Melo playing the 4 with Artest at the 3. That team doesn't play much defense and seem built for the regular season like the Denver Nuggets - offense isn't a question.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                        Originally posted by J7F View Post
                        I honestly kinda like ATL @ 6... I like the addition of Jefferson... IMO he will add more value to that team than Smith did...

                        I know they kept Korver and Teague... But I'm forgetting... Didn't they add a good big off the bench as well?
                        I agree. Milsap instead of Jefferson, isn't it? One of those Utah guys at least.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                          Originally posted by kmjohnson View Post
                          57 is a lot of games...
                          It is a lot of games. And this Pacers team should win a lot of games. We were inconsistent last season as players were trying to figure out their roles without Danny. Next season, I don't expect us to have much of an adjustment period. This could be one of the best Pacers teams assembled next year. They should be expected to win 57-60 games.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                            Originally posted by xIndyFan View Post
                            I agree. Milsap instead of Jefferson, isn't it? One of those Utah guys at least.
                            Milsap. Jefferson went to the Bobcats.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: A new look in the East (Pacers getting respect)

                              Originally posted by kmjohnson View Post
                              57 is a lot of games...
                              Considering that we should have a better start to the season (knock on wood), we'll have Granger back, a better bench, and for what it's worth (a lot more than some may think IMO) Bird back in the FO, if we don't win at least 60 this year I'll be surprised.

                              Comment

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