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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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

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

Rule #1

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

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

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

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

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

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #2

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

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

The right places to do so are:

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

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

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

Rule #3

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #4

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

Rule #5

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

An example:

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

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

Rule #6

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

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

Rule #7

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

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

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

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

Rule #8

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

Rule #9

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

Rule #10

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

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Pacers Interested in International Players

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  • Pacers Interested in International Players

    http://sports.excite.com/news/06232005/v8435.html

    By CLIFF BRUNT
    INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana Pacers ended this past season as one of just two teams without an international player.

    But as they head into Tuesday's NBA draft, even the Pacers are looking overseas. Larry Bird, the team's president of basketball operations, says Indiana is not focusing on a specific position but is looking for someone who can help.

    The Pacers, who have the 17th pick, have their sights on players including Roko Ukic, a guard from Croatia; Yaroslav Korolev, a forward from Russia, and Fran Vazquez, a forward-center from Spain. But they could have plenty of competition.

    The number of international players on opening-day rosters in the NBA has risen from 29 in 1997 to 81 this past season. There were 20 foreign players drafted last year, compared with nine in 1999 and three in 1994. This year, a record seven international players competed in the NBA Finals.

    With players such as Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Serbia-Montenegro's Peja Stojakovic, former rookie of the year Pau Gasol of Spain, three-time All-Star Yao Ming of China and Russia's Andrei Kirilenko making immediate impacts, teams say they can't afford to overlook overseas players.


    "Everybody's so afraid of missing out on the next one," said new Cleveland coach Mike Brown, a former Pacers assistant who inherits All-Star center Zydrunas Ilgauskas of Lithuania with the Cavaliers.

    This past season was a banner year for international players. The league MVP, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, hails from Canada. Nowitzki finished third in the MVP voting after a dominant season for the Dallas Mavericks. The San Antonio Spurs start three players born outside the continental U.S. - Tim Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Manu Ginobili of Argentina and Tony Parker of France.

    That level of foreign participation was unheard of 25 years ago. When Bird was a rookie for the Boston Celtics in 1979, there were six international players in the league.

    Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said much has changed in his 19 years at the team's helm.

    "I think we always looked, but not to the extent we do now," Walsh said. "But we were always familiar with the European market."

    International players can warm a bench as they gain experience - or change a franchise.

    Before Gasol arrived in Memphis in 2001, the Grizzlies never had been to the playoffs. Gasol averaged 17.6 points a game and was the league's top rookie despite his team's 23-59 record. He averaged 19 points a game his second year as Memphis won five more games.

    The Grizzlies went 50-32 in Gasol's third year and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

    That's the kind of player NBA scouts can't afford to miss.

    Joe Ash, the Pacers' director of scouting, already has made five trips to Europe this year, including three with Bird. In July, Ash will travel to Moscow for a European 20-and-under tournament to see players from 16 countries, then head to Argentina for the FIBA World Championships for Young Men.

    The Pacers employ two foreign-born scouts. Nedilijko "Misho" Ostarcevic is from Croatia and splits his time between Europe and the western United States. Alexsandar Pajovic has a home in Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro, and spends much of his time scouting European basketball.

    They meet plenty of NBA colleagues at every stop.

    Ash said he sees as many scouts at European tournaments as at major college games in the United States. He said more than 50 NBA representatives attended the Euroleague Final Four May 6-8 in Moscow.

    "These guys aren't coming out of nowhere anymore," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "People know who the good people are, what teams they're on, what their contract situations are."

    The Pacers have plenty of experience with foreign talent. Center Rik Smits of the Netherlands, who played from 1988-2000, is the franchise's second-leading scorer. Detlef Schrempf, a forward from Germany, ranks 10th in career scoring after playing for Indiana from 1988-1993.

    Indiana would have had a foreign player last season if it hadn't lost Slovenia's Primoz Brezec to Charlotte in the expansion draft. The 7-foot-1 center averaged a career-high 13 points per game for the Bobcats.

    The Pacers liked Beno Udrih in the draft last year, but the Spurs - a team Cleveland's Brown calls the league's best at snapping up international talent - nabbed the Slovenian one pick before the Pacers could get him.

    Ash said scouting foreign talent is a necessity, not an option.

    "You have to," he said. "Not going would just be ignoring a large segment of the talent pool."

  • #2
    Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

    I personally think the Pacers should go after Francisco Garcia. But after that, I wouldn't mind taking Roko Ukic. Argue all you want about him being a PG, but if he's half as good as scouts make him out to be, that means he's twice as good as Anthony Johnson, and it would do wonders for our chemistry if we have 2 true point guards on the team.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

      Ok, I'm just pasting part of a post from another topic here:

      http://www.pacersdigest.com/forums/s...211#post209211

      "Yaroslav Korolev is the most talented of the bunch, and he is either a product of excessive hype or he's the next Toni Kukoc or the next Skita. Either way, his stock is rising so fast there's little chance he slips past Indiana. So eliminate Korolev."

      Can anyone tell me a little bit more about this chap?

      Regards,

      Mourning
      2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

      2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

      2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

        via ESPN insider

        "Draft Projection: Mid-to-late first round

        Notes: As far as sure-fire NBA prospects go, Korolev looks like the real thing. He's been on scouts' radars now for two years, but he really put it all together in the Euroleague juniors tournament, averaging 17.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg and 3.2 apg in front of a big contingent of NBA scouts and GMs. His father is a former Russian basketball player and coach, and it's clear dad has rubbed off on him.

        Positives: Korolev is one of the most complete players in Europe. He's a long 6-foot-9 small forward with great athleticism, an excellent long-range jumper and superb ball-handling skills.

        Negatives: While scouts are a little concerned about his toughness and decision-making skills. He takes a lot of unnecessary chances with the ball. Sometimes struggles when matched up against other physical, talented defenders. Can disappear.

        Summary: Scouts loved him in Moscow and currently project him in the 18-to-30 range. However, he has the potential to work himself into the late lottery with workouts."

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

          via draftexpress.com

          "Very few players at this age are able to display the kind of gifts and skills that Yaroslav Korolev enjoys. We're talking about a point forward here, who at 6-9 has the perfect size to play the small forward position, with excellent athleticism to go with it, and the skills of a guard.

          He's a pretty long kid, as besides his size, he enjoys a nice wingspan. Of course at this age he's far from being a strong player, but his frame is decent, good enough to play in the NBA with no problem at all after adding some strength. He's very quick for being so tall, really coordinated, and combines a good vertical leap with some explosiveness. To sum up, he's quite an athlete, particularly if we're talking about a European guy, and has the tools to make things happen.

          Before digging into his skills, it's interesting to point that Yaroslav's father is a basketball coach. It's surely a big reason why the guy is so skilled and fundamentally sound. To start with, he has very good ball-handling skills. He can drive in traffic and handle the ball in transition with ease. He barely losses speed while dribbling and utiziles both hands very well. This is a key department in his game, which allows him to be so versatile.

          To complete the playmaking package, he's a quite a good passer. Standing 6 feet and 9 inches off the floor, he has the privilege to see the court particularly well, and he fully takes advantage of it. He can dish it off in many situations: transition plays, feeding a cutting teammate, as well as on drive and dish plays to deliver to an open teammate after causing defensive rotations. He's first a passer, a game creator, then a scorer. He loves to run the offense, but more importantly, he doesn't abuse these skills. He lets the game come to him, not forcing unnecessary situations, not overshadowing his teammates. He doesn't over-handle the ball, playing in the flow of the offense while showing great decision making.

          When it comes to scoring, he can use a variety of weapons. He's not a shooter, but he's rather consistent with his jumper. He has range, solid mechanics and shows ability to release it off the dribble if necessary. But he's not too prolific in this department, and it's rarely a first option for him. When he receives the ball, if he doesn't find a good pass (or he isn't fully open, of course), he usually looks to drive rather than firing. With a good first step, he takes his man off the dribble rather easily, and has the ability to finish, whether with a powerful dunk, or with a creative lay-up, depending on the situation. He's pretty fluid and smooth.

          If you think that such a talented and skilled guy will likely be a defensive liability, you're wrong. Korolev has all the tools to become an excellent defender, and he already shows quite good results. He has more than enough lateral quickness to defend his position, the length to annoy any rival (that helps him to come up with some steals) and he puts some intensity and effort. He's quite dangerous on the block coming from the weak side, showing good timing in the process. He can give a hand in the rebounding department too, which isn't unexpected given his athleticism and length.

          Korolev is a very special player, a big time prospect oozing with potential. He's a guy with a natural talent to play this game, a very high basketball IQ, who plays with intensity and passion and who is a pleasure to watch. "

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

            Will they look for players in Sweden?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

              Originally posted by 3ptmiller
              Will they look for players in Sweden?
              I wrote a report on Sweden in 8th grade. Then the next day in Gym class, I got diarrhea on the trampoline.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

                Originally posted by Fig Newton
                I wrote a report on Sweden in 8th grade. Then the next day in Gym class, I got diarrhea on the trampoline.
                So in other words, you left some "Fig Newton" behind that day.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

                  Originally posted by Fig Newton
                  I wrote a report on Sweden in 8th grade. Then the next day in Gym class, I got diarrhea on the trampoline.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Pacers Interested in International Players

                    Originally posted by Fig Newton
                    I wrote a report on Sweden in 8th grade. Then the next day in Gym class, I got diarrhea on the trampoline.


                    THx, for the info on Yaroslav Korolev btw. Some good reads.

                    Regards,

                    Mourning
                    2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                    2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                    2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

                    Comment

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