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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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Pacers NBA Finals?

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  • #31
    Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

    Assuming we get PG back and somewhat in the swing of things, and we avoid Atlanta, I think it is possible.

    No one in the East frightens me that much except the Hawks. I think the chances are slim though.

    Comment


    • #32
      Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

      Originally posted by Cousy47 View Post
      That being said, O'Neal was at the very least the best big man the Pacers have ever had.
      I'd suggest you say "best NBA big man" if you don't want a midnight visit from Mel Daniels...
      BillS

      A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
      Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

      Comment


      • #33
        Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

        Never say never. There are components of this team that, if things come together just right, could actually make them stronger than last year. It may not be likely, but I don't know if it's impossible for them to get there, you just never know how teams hit the playoffs with a head of steam. The core of this team is still in place and playing better of late, and PG has to be seeing that. I also have utmost faith in our coaching staff. THis is a team that has faced more games lost to injury than almost every other team, so that's been a major hurdle, and yet here they are, getting guys back and starting to play some real solid ball.

        I actually think our offensive output has been better at times this year, when we weren't racked by injuries. It seems like when we have most of our guys, we actually move the ball and score a lot better than last year.

        Our bench seems to be considerably better than last year. Scola and Mahinmi seemed to have rediscovered themselves.. Miles has been a good addition, Stuckey has his moments and Watson has been real solid. I really like where the bench has gone this year, especially compared to last year's bench. And our starting unit, if PG actually comes back, could actually be stronger than last year's... I'm a fan of Solo, the more I see of him, the more I'm beginning to think he could be our answer at the 2 spot, I think he's a better team player, a better defender, and possibly even a better team offensive player than Lance... and he has a fantastic NBA body and also seems to be a very smart cookie. Just been really impressed and frankly surprised by Solo so far and seeing as this is his 1st real season, there's reason to expect he'll take more leaps in the coming years. Hibbert seems to have rectified himself, even if he's not playing amazing, he's not the great depression that he was at the end of last season. GHill is playing at a much higher level than last year.

        It's very interesting. I'm curious to see if we can secure a playoff spot from this point on, because I firmly believe that if we're in the hunt with a month remaining, PG will come back.. and if he can get a month of gel in with the starting unit and we get that bench unit comfy, this could be a really good team on both sides of the ball.
        Last edited by Kid Minneapolis; 02-12-2015, 10:04 PM.
        There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

        Comment


        • #34
          Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

          Originally posted by diamonddave00 View Post
          People poke fun and knock Jermaine O'Neal all the time. He played 8 years a Pacers was an All Star 6 times- that one more than Reggie Miller who was an All Star 5 times in 18 season. Jermaine is the Pacers #1 all time scorer in ppg 19.2 - Reggie averaged 18.2. A comparison of JO age 22-29 his Pacer years to Roy Hibbert age 22 -to today at age 28.

          JO in 8 yrs played 514 games as a Pacer Hibbert has played 507. Everyone says Roy protects the rim better than any Pacer in blocks basicly same number of games Roy has 954 blocks JO had 1245. Rebounds Roy 3440 ---6.8 PER GAME) JO 4933 (9.2 RPG).

          Scoring no contest Roy 5664 points as of today 11.2 ppg--- JO as a Pacer 9580 or 19.2 ppg. JO had more assist 1010 to Roy's 748. More steals 341-192.

          People forever rag on Jermaine O'Neal as a disappointment as a Pacer, aside from being injury prone JO was a top NBA player for those 8 seasons , Roy Hibbert is nowhere near in JO's class.

          I am so tired of JO being bashed at every opportunity to me his career as a Pacer for the 8 years is one of the best in the Pacers NBA history, in his prime years he was a star far superior to Roy Hibbert.
          Jermaine O'neal was the best player on a Pacers team that went 61-21 and made the ECF, was a 6x NBA All-Star and was a runner up for the MVP title @ 2004. Of course he's better than Roy Hibbert. He's better than most of the players who ever put our uniform.

          I did not disrespect him. The topic is about things that have extremely low probability to occur. A relatively old & injured player has a place on the "things that won't happen" list.
          Originally posted by Piston Prince
          Bobcat fans telling us to cheer up = epic fail season
          "Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

            To the finals? This year?
            Even with a fully healthy pg....
            Not a chance without tickets.
            Edit, I find that my phone often decides to change what I try to write whether I want it to or not.
            I wish I could turn the feature off.
            Last edited by clownskull; 02-17-2015, 01:50 AM. Reason: wrong word

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            • #36
              Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

              Only if everyone from Larry Bird down through all of the coaching staff, ball boys, and Pacemates shave their heads and keep them shaved from now through the playoffs.

              Even at that, a bald Rik Smits is not walking through that door (as a player, anyway).

              Comment


              • #37
                Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                I don't the idea is absurd, that if PG comes back, they could suddenly go from borderline playoff team, to juggernaut once again. The reason I don't think there is a chance in hell that it happens, is this team is obviously missing PG. I think a healthy PG is one of the 10 best players in the NBA easy... But even if he is on the court, there is no way he will be able to contribute at the level he is capable of. There's something to be said for playing all season, your body is in great shape, and ready to go all out when the playoffs start. There is no way PG will be ready to compete at that level. Consequently, there is no way the Pacers would be good enough to beat the top teams in the easy.

                In theory tho- I actually agree, if PG was 100%, in shape, hitting his shots, was in a groove and ready to play his best in the playoffs? I'd argue the Pacers could beat any team in the east. But- There's just no way he'll be ready. Even if he's in shape by the playoffs, there is so much rust he will have to shake off.

                Comment


                • #38
                  Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                  The return of the FloJos pretty much guarantees a hot finish and a run to the ECF, right? Dug themselves a little bigger hole and just missed having the appropriate 7 game winning streak heading into the All Star break, but still.... Onward and upward!

                  http://www.basketball-reference.com/...994_games.html
                  PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

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                  • #39
                    Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                    Originally posted by MagicRat View Post
                    The return of the FloJos pretty much guarantees a hot finish and a run to the ECF, right? Dug themselves a little bigger hole and just missed having the appropriate 7 game winning streak heading into the All Star break, but still.... Onward and upward!

                    http://www.basketball-reference.com/...994_games.html
                    Even back then San Antonio was pwning us....

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                      Originally posted by MagicRat View Post
                      The return of the FloJos pretty much guarantees a hot finish and a run to the ECF, right? Dug themselves a little bigger hole and just missed having the appropriate 7 game winning streak heading into the All Star break, but still.... Onward and upward!

                      http://www.basketball-reference.com/...994_games.html
                      Yeah, I was trying to do the comparison but it didn't work well enough for me. That win streak was a huge thing that ultimately got us away from the 8th spot.
                      BillS

                      A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                      Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                        Originally posted by clownskull View Post
                        To the finals? This year?
                        Even with a fully healthy pg....
                        Not a chance without tickets.
                        sometimes I hate my new phone. It decides that it knows what I'm trying to say and will make changes without my approval.

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                          Jermaine and the Finals are being mentioned in the same thread, in the year 2015...
                          Originally posted by Natston;n3510291
                          I want the people to know that they still have 2 out of the 3 T.J.s working for them, and that ain't bad...

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                            I know this isn't logical. It is seated in pessimism. But with all the promises with JO and Granger I don't expect Paul to come back this year. I know his injury is soon different, but I just can't get my hopes up. I have no issue of knocking the rust off this season if he is cleared. Yeah I want a better draft pick and such, but having this team hit the ground running next season is worth more than a 4-6 better pick.

                            BUT!!!!!! Come on how many times have we gotten our hopes up just to have the rugs pulled from underneath us. I am not mentioning the 04-05 season that led to this franchises best chance of winning a championship. Call me a negative Nancy, a Debbie Downer, a Shady Shade , but I am not expecting Paul to come back next month. I can't..my hope has been wrecked far too often

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                              Originally posted by Major Cold View Post
                              I know this isn't logical. It is seated in pessimism. But with all the promises with JO and Granger I don't expect Paul to come back this year. I know his injury is soon different, but I just can't get my hopes up. I have no issue of knocking the rust off this season if he is cleared. Yeah I want a better draft pick and such, but having this team hit the ground running next season is worth more than a 4-6 better pick.

                              BUT!!!!!! Come on how many times have we gotten our hopes up just to have the rugs pulled from underneath us. I am not mentioning the 04-05 season that led to this franchises best chance of winning a championship. Call me a negative Nancy, a Debbie Downer, a Shady Shade , but I am not expecting Paul to come back next month. I can't..my hope has been wrecked far too often
                              You sound like a Cleveland/Chicago Cub fan. It isn't THAT bad, is it?

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: Pacers NBA Finals?

                                Originally posted by joew8302 View Post
                                You sound like a Cleveland/Chicago Cub fan. It isn't THAT bad, is it?
                                Nope. Cubs fans forget every year. It's like those endorphins that blur the memory of labor or else women would Never Give Birth Again.
                                BillS

                                A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                                Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                                Comment

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