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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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Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

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  • Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

    http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/colum...=2064570&num=0

    Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford
    ESPN Insider
    Archive

    The Pacers and Sonics were both eliminated last night after shocking most of the NBA world this season. The Pacers for what they didn't do (thanks to suspensions and injuries). The Sonics for what they did (Insider picked them to finish last in the West).

    Next year it should be a completely different story for both teams.

    Pacers fans, whether you were disappointed or inspired by your team's roller coaster season, take heart. Next season Indiana should be the team to beat in the NBA -- even if Reggie Miller sticks to his retirement plans.

    Barring another season of suspensions and injuries, the Pacers should have all the requisite ingredients for a champion coming into next season:

    A great big man: Jermaine O'Neal continues to transform himself into a legit MVP candidate. Despite a season full with injuries, he posted his best PER (player efficiency rating) of his career. The key for O'Neal next year will be trusting his teammates. With a crippled supporting cast, O'Neal hogged the ball in the post at an unprecedented rate. If he can spread the love a little more, he'll be even more dangerous.

    An excellent point guard: Jamaal Tinsley took a big step this year and, when healthy, was one of the five or six best point guards in the league this year. His PER rating of 19.02 was, by far the highest of his career. He almost doubled his scoring output and he's turned into an excellent defender. The Pacers quietly signed him to a modest extension last fall. It turned out to be an excellent move.

    Fantastic depth: Guys like Stephen Jackson, Jeff Foster, Fred Jones and youngsters David Harrison and James Jones stepped up huge in the absence of many of the teams elite players this season. If Jonathan Bender can ever get healthy, they'll be as deep as any team in the East.

    One of the best head coaches in the game: If you had any question about Rick Carlisle's chops, they were answered this season. Higher-profile guys like Larry Brown and Phil Jackson always get the love, but no one has done more with less than Carlisle has done the last four seasons. He found a way to get everyone in the team to buy into his system this year. The team bonded in a way that few teams ever do. If he can get that to carry over into next season, that cohesiveness will put them on par with what the Pistons have been doing in Detroit.

    Ron Artest: From the sound of things, the Pacers have no intention of dumping Ron this summer. According to Carlisle and his teammates, Ron has regained his passion for the game (they have to get pounded by him in practice everyday) while gaining some much needed perspective and maturity over the past year. Everyone from Carlisle to O'Neal have raved about the changes Artest has made both on and off the court. If he can keep that focus through the summer, we could see a rested, hungry and in control Ron Artest for the first time ever. As Carlisle said Thursday night about Artest's return, "That'll be like having a lottery pick delivered to you."

    The motivation: Everyone from Larry Bird to the ball boy thought this was the Pacers' year. Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Still, they persevered and turned one of the league's most demoralizing stories into an inspirational one. Next season the team will be as focused, determined and hungry as any team in the league. On November 19th, the night of the infamous brawl, the Pacers looked like they could whip the Pistons in a seven game series. With almost everyone coming back and huge chip on their shoulders, look for them to ride roughshod through the East and the West next season.

    The Sonics are a different story entirely. The team has a whopping eight players hitting the free agent market this summer. Nate McMillan's contract is up. So is GM Rick Sund's.

    To make matters worse, the Sonics are having a ton of financial trouble right now which is tied directly to bad lease they signed with Key Arena in 1995. Even with the success they had this season, the Sonics are estimating that they'll lose $17.8 million dollars this season. When you consider that their payroll stood at about $54.5 million (about six million under the average for the league) and won't be paying a luxury tax  that's shocking.

    That means that ownership has a very tough decision this summer. They could spend the money to re-sign all of their free agents if they want  but it would mean losing a huge amount of cash again next season. Or, they can cut payroll, try to save some money, and watch the team sink back down into the lottery.

    At this point, nothing is certain in Seattle.

    For starters, McMillan, who finished third in coach of the year voting, is going to get serious interest around the league from a number of teams including the Knicks, Timberwolves, Magic and possibly the Cavs. While Nate has strong ties to Seattle, will he bolt knowing that ownership might not be able to afford to field a winning team next year? Or will he leave because management didn't think enough of him this fall to work out an extension.

    The free agency situation isn't much better.

    Ray Allen, Antonio Davis, Jerome James, Vladimir Radmanovic, Reggie Evans, Damien Wilkins, Ronald Murray and Vitaly Potapenko are all free agents.

    Allen and Daniels reportedly would like to bolt. Given that the Sonics don't want to break the bank with either guy, the chances that they leave are pretty high. Allen tried to work out an extension with the team throughout the season and is frustrated with what the Sonics are offering. The truth is that Allen will have a hard time getting his asking price anywhere in the league. Most of the teams that are under the cap are bad, and won't want to spend the bulk of their money on a 30-year-old two guard regardless of how well he played this year. The Cavs and the Clippers are really the only two teams that might spend the money, but they both have higher priorities.

    Daniels is also an unrestricted free agent and will likely get his salary doubled next year. The Sonics could afford to offer him more, but they're ready to hand the point guard duties to Luke Ridnour full time, and can't afford such an expensive backup. The opportunity to start on a good time like the Cavs, Rockets, Lakers or Jazz should be enough to convince him to leave.

    I don't see them re-signing James. He's been impressive in the playoffs, but it's the equivalent to a deathbed confession  I'm not sure how sincere it really is. Despite James' lack of production the past few years, someone is going to make him a pretty big offer based on his performance in the playoffs. I think the Sonics will be too risk adverse to spend that type of money knowing what they know about him.

    They'll probably keep Radmanovic because he's a restricted free agent and no one is likely to make him a huge offer. While Radmanovic will generate a lot of interest around the league, it would take a starting salary of six to seven million before the Sonics wouldn't match. Right now, it looks like all the teams with cap room have higher priorities.

    The same may hold true for Flip Murray, especially if Allen bolts.

    Wilkins has been great for them in a reserve role this season and had several big games in the playoffs versus the Spurs. Wilkins is a restricted free agent this summer and the Sonics will likely keep him as long as he doesn't get an outrageous offer.

    Evans is another difficult one to call. He gives them toughness and energy in the paint. That's been a big key for the Sonics this season. They do have Nick Collison and Danny Fortson to help clean the glass. But of the three, Evans is the best rebounder of the group. In fact his rebound rate this season (which is minute sensitive) was the best in the league. He's going to get a lot of interest from other teams desperate for some low post toughness next year and should command a big raise from the $880,000 he makes this year.

    Where does that leave the Sonics?

    If they pass on re-signing Allen, James, Potapenko and Evans, they could re-sign Radmanovic, Murray and Wilkins and still have enough in the bank to make a big offer to a younger big man like Tyson Chandler, Samuel Dalembert or Eddy Curry.

    A combo of Rashard Lewis, Ridnour and either Chandler, Dalembert and Curry would form a very nice young core. If younger players like Robert Swift, Collison, Radmanvic, Murray and Wilkins continue to develop the Sonics might not be a playoff team overnight, but they could have a bright future.

    If they use up all of their money re-signing Allen, James, Daniels, Radmanovic and Evans however, the Sonics could field close to the same team they did this season. However, they'd lose a little depth, have a tough cap position for the future and still probably aren't more than a team that can get to the second round.


    Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

  • #2
    Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

    Yay, good article.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

      Well, that was certainly heartening.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

        Originally posted by drewdawg
        Ray Allen, Antonio Davis, Jerome James, Vladimir Radmanovic, Reggie Evans, Damien Wilkins, Ronald Murray and Vitaly Potapenko are all free agents.

        hmmmmm

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

          I think AD is signed through next year.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

            Originally posted by Ragnar
            I think AD is signed through next year.
            The point is he doesn't play for the Sonics. He means Daniels, not Davis.
            This space for rent.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

              I'd love to get Daniels

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                that's the second article by ford in the past month that i've enjoyed

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                  Originally posted by drewdawg

                  Ron Artest: From the sound of things, the Pacers have no intention of dumping Ron this summer. According to Carlisle and his teammates, Ron has regained his passion for the game (they have to get pounded by him in practice everyday) while gaining some much needed perspective and maturity over the past year. Everyone from Carlisle to O'Neal have raved about the changes Artest has made both on and off the court. If he can keep that focus through the summer, we could see a rested, hungry and in control Ron Artest for the first time ever. As Carlisle said Thursday night about Artest's return, "That'll be like having a lottery pick delivered to you."

                  Interesting and encouraging.

                  I have a general question. What does taking a year off do for a 25 year old NBA pl;ayer. Does it help them, does it make them rusty. Does it add another year onto their careers

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                    Ray Allen available. hmmmmm

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                      Originally posted by PacerMan
                      Ray Allen available. hmmmmm
                      For the max.

                      Otherwise, I agree totally.
                      This space for rent.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                        Ray Allen available= $$$$$$$$$$$ we don't have without destroying out core.


                        I would rather be the hammer than the nail

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                          It's a nice article and sums up what I said about Jermaine, only in less harsh words.

                          And you guys mostly bashed me for saying it!

                          I'm freakin incredible!!!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                            Originally posted by Unclebuck
                            Interesting and encouraging.

                            I have a general question. What does taking a year off do for a 25 year old NBA pl;ayer. Does it help them, does it make them rusty. Does it add another year onto their careers

                            I look at it like it's a season ending injury, without the rehab.

                            It might take a little off his game at first but with Ron I don't see it as being that big an issue one way or another.

                            As for adding another year to your career, no. The body is gonna start giving out at a certain point in the aging cycle whether you play every year or miss a season or two.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Pacers, Sonics on different paths for next seasonBy Chad Ford

                              Originally posted by Alabama-Redneck
                              Ray Allen available= $$$$$$$$$$$ we don't have without destroying out core.


                              Artest/Pollard/Bender wouldn't get it done?

                              Comment

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