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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"

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"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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Title of the Article
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Indianapolis Star

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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.

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Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

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  • #1

    Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

    http://www.1070thefan.com/blogs/brun...what-expect-pg

    An open letter to the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise and fans:

    Welcome to Paul George’s world.

    Enjoy your stay, however brief.

    Because, no matter how much he tries to suggest otherwise, no matter how hard you convince yourselves, your time in his world will indeed be brief.

    Nearly 25 years ago, upon Larry Brown’s arrival as head coach in Indianapolis, Mark Heisler of the Los Angeles Times, who knew the man well, tried to do us a favor. He wrote a story entitled “The Five Stages of Larry Brown,” hoping to prepare us for what was coming. Those stages were: Arrival, Early Struggle in Which He Tries to Trade Everyone Starting With His Star Player, Triumph, Frustration and I’m Out of Here.

    At the time, we read the story with bemusement. As respected as Heisler was -- and still is -- obviously he just didn’t understand that things were going to be different in Indianapolis because we were special. Well, not so much. The Brown tenure went exactly as Heisler said it would.

    I will be the first to admit I am no Mark Heisler, but I will nevertheless endeavor to do for you what he tried to do for us. I will offer The Three Stages of Paul George’s 11 Months in OKC.

    1. THE WARM AND FUZZY EMBRACE

    In his mind, George is very good at saying all the right things, while letting others around him do the dirty work. He told Pacers fans on June 15 in his first interview since the playoffs ended, “This is my team, my group and this is where I’m at.” He called the constant buzz he wanted to leave to sign with the Lakers “crazy rumors” and insisted he would take his time before making any decisions about his future.

    On June 17, his agent Aaron Mintz informed Pacers president Kevin Pritchard that George intended to opt out of his contract after the 2017-18 season and leave the Pacers with the intent of signing with the Lakers.

    Keep that in mind, before you get too encouraged about those quotes in the Sports Illustrated article, or anything he might say in his introductory press conference this evening.

    He will talk about the great organization, the great fans, how awesome it’s going to be to play with Russell Westbrook, and he will tell you he hasn’t made up his mind about the future.

    He already has, in fact, said many of those things via Sports Illustrated. Interesting that he chose to speak through a national magazine before speaking to the Thunder fans. He was softening you up.

    “I get the frustration. I get why people are upset,” he told SI. “But at the same time, I want the average fan to understand that we only get a small window to play this game and more than anything you want to be able to play for a championship. I wanted to bring that to Indiana. I really did. I love Indiana. That will always be a special place for me and I’m sorry for not holding on. But I wasn’t sure we’d ever get a team together to compete for a championship and that’s where all this came from.”

    The Pacers reached the playoffs in every one of George’s six healthy seasons, and twice advanced to the conference finals. Does he really expect anyone to believe he saw no hope for the future because Roy Hibbert and George Hill were gone? Or that Larry Bird’s departure somehow signaled the franchise waving the white flag on competing?

    You see, Paul George wants to be loved so badly, he is perfectly willing to suspend reality to try to make it happen.

    2. THE BIG TEASE

    There will be a month during the 2017-18 season in which George plays as well as anyone in the NBA. Maybe even two. During that period, the national media will erupt with stories about how the Thunder just might be championship contenders, he and Westbrook are perfect for one another, and this is the start of something big in OKC.

    “I’m thrilled,” he told SI. “All I was asking for was a little help in Indy. Now I’m getting a lot of help in Oklahoma. … I think I fit with how (Westbrook) plays and vice versa. Being a knock-down shooter, I think I can spread the floor for him and run the floor with him. But I also think I can help get him easier opportunities, being able to drive and dish the ball out, so he can attack guys closing out on him.”

    But there will also be a month, maybe two, where you will wonder what all the fuss was about. The national media will murmur rumors about a discordant relationship between the two stars, with frustration being voiced through carefully placed leaks. Publicly, George will profess his love for Westbrook, offer disdain for those negative reports and deny his connection with them.

    Odds are, the good month(s) will be in the first half of the season, before the trade deadline. Odds are, the bad month(s) will be down the stretch, and Magic Johnson will start Tweeting smiley-face emojis and not-so-cryptic comments about divine intervention on the Lakers’ behalf.

    Crazy rumors and all that.

    3. THE AWKWARD EXIT

    We get it. The Thunder has a first-class operation from top to bottom, Oklahoma City is a great place to live, and you have great fans.

    We get it because the Pacers are a first-class operation from top to bottom, Indianapolis is a great place to live, and we have great fans.

    And none of that matters so much as a molecule.

    After the Thunder wins 53 (or so) games, finishes third or fourth in the West and loses in the second round of the playoffs, Paul George will sit next to Russell Westbrook on a podium and be asked about his future. He will not offer a direct answer.

    This will mean only one thing: adios.

    We read in Sports Illustrated that George’s actual hometown (Palmdale) is actually an hour from downtown L.A., and he likes to fish, which makes him a small-town guy at heart, right?

    He lived on a reservoir in a beautiful Indianapolis suburb. Had a boat. Fished all the time.

    “I grew up a Lakers and a Clippers fan,” he told SI. “I idolized Kobe. There will always be a tie here, a connection here. People saying I want to come here, who doesn’t want to play for their hometown? That’s a dream come true, if you’re a kid growing up on the outskirts of L.A., to be the man in your city. But it’s definitely been overstated.

    “For me, it’s all about winning. I want to be in a good system, a good team. I want a shot to win it. I’m not a stats guy. I’m playing this game to win and build a legacy of winning. I’ve yet to do that. I’m searching for it. If we get a killer season in Oklahoma, we make the conference finals or upset the Warriors or do something crazy, I’d be dumb to want to leave that.”

    Reread the end of that last sentence. George let slip an inconvenient truth. Is that the mindset you want your new superstar to have, that the only way his new team can achieve the level of winning he demands is for “something crazy” to happen?

    Look, I’m not trying to spoil your party, just trying to be sort of a designated driver to navigate these new worlds.

    So watch the press conference tonight, listen to Paul George tell you what he thinks you want to hear, and then please, please remember this:

    When Paul George speaks, his words are the banana, and you are the tailpipe.

    You cannot keep him, you see, because he already is gone.
    Pretty strong opinion from a local writer
    Sittin on top of the world!
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

    Originally posted by 90'sNBARocked View Post
    http://www.1070thefan.com/blogs/brun...what-expect-pg



    Pretty strong opinion from a local writer
    Strong but accurate.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

      Two things are like clockwork in the winter: cold weather and a prolonged month stretch where PG shoots below 40%. Happens every year.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

        The best article Brunner has ever written.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

          Originally posted by Major Cold View Post
          The best article Brunner has ever written.
          Wow... Didn't realize it was Conrad.
          Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

          ------

          "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

          -John Wooden

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

            I think Brunner is being completely honest and has more insight to PG then national writers
            Sittin on top of the world!

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

              And of course there is this ................

              Paul George makes us believe he could actually stay
              Updated: July 12, 2017 9:11 PM CDT

              Paul George toured the Oklahoma City National Memorial on Wednesday, but that's not the only place the new Thunder superstar went.

              George went to that corner of our hearts, that place in our soul we vowed to never let any ballplayer visit again, unless they wear a 0 on their jersey and a scowl on their face.

              “I got to … get a little bit of the taste of the history here, and that drew me even closer to the connection here and the reasoning for the love and the passion,” George said of his visit to the Memorial, a rite of passage for all new members of the Thunder organization. “I felt, I don't want to say this too soon, but Oklahoman.”

              No. Surely George didn't go there. Surely George didn't say that. Surely George didn't prey upon our vulnerabilities that quickly. He's right. It's way too soon. We should have plugged our ears and averted our eyes. Three hundred seventy-three days after Kevin Durant broke our hearts and only 28 hours after George landed on Oklahoma soil, there he was, making us dream again. Giving us hope that the magic we lost a year ago could be replicated beyond just this season, after Sam Presti's masterful trade with Indiana.

              We know that the angel in our arms this morning is gonna be the devil in someone else's arms tonight. We know that George has designs on wearing Laker gold by next summer and the chances of keeping him in OKC aren't great.

              But danged if George, both Wednesday night in his introductory press conference and his Sports Illustrated exclusive earlier in the week, isn't giving us hope. Is it too late to induct him into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame this year?

              George pushed all the right buttons.

              “It's been awesome,” he said of his first two days in OKC. “Can't script this up any other way. This has been an unbelievable trip. I've been wowed ever since we landed. This feels like home.” He even mentioned checking out the lakes and ponds as he flew into town, scouting for fishing spots.

              At the public pep rally staged at the hip Jones Assembly, a new downtown restaurant/concert venue, emcee Lance Fresh asked George what he was most looking forward to. “Playing in front of you guys,” George said. “I look forward to representing those three letters.” He meant OKC, the only acronym that trumps MVP in these parts.

              George joked that he would challenge Russell Westbrook for fashion king.

              George said he was quite surprised by the trade but “I was thrilled. All I wanted was the chance and the opportunity to play for something special. To ultimately try to win a championship, and right off the bat, I think I get that here, playing alongside Russ.”

              Now, George also cooled the jets a little by declaring that he and Westbrook could “hopefully” address free agency together, next summer, “that we enjoy this process and enjoy what we've built to want to make decisions based off one another.” If it's all right with you, Paul, we'll just have Westbrook go ahead and sign his extension this summer, thank you very much.

              But mostly, George gave Oklahomans hope. He said winning big is his priority, and really, that's all we could ask for. If that's true, OKC has a fighting chance.

              “We haven't accomplished nothing yet,” George said. “But right now, me and Russ have something to build now, and we'll see where it takes us. It could be something special that we build and want to keep on building. We'll wait to get to that. At the end of the day, all I want out of this is a chance. A chance to compete.”

              That desire, George said, is the root of the Laker talk. Hooking up with another star and reviving the NBA's most storied franchise. But George said that desire could bloom in OKC, too.

              “I could come here and love it, as I have been loving it here” after 28 hours, George said. “Both myself and Russell, if we love where we're at and we feel we can do something special here, I'm open to it.”

              That's all we can ask. So the Thunder pulled out all the stops with an airport greeting attended by 500 fans and a visit to the Memorial and a pep rally attended by 1,000 strong at an LA-cool venue. And we are left with no choice. Paul George can have our hearts to break.
              Hey PG, do you even believe the BS that comes out your mouth? Just curious

              Sell it hard you slick oil snake salesperson
              Sittin on top of the world!

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                PG's gone. He's OKC's problem now.

                Maybe it's time for people, including local writers, to



                You'd all feel better for it.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                  Originally posted by wintermute View Post
                  PG's gone. He's OKC's problem now.

                  Maybe it's time for people, including local writers, to



                  You'd all feel better for it.
                  It's only been a week. Didn't someone say people in Indiana remember betrayals for a long time? I imagine until Pacers start winning PG will be a point of discourse and tension for a long

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                    Originally posted by immortality View Post
                    It's only been a week. Didn't someone say people in Indiana remember betrayals for a long time? I imagine until Pacers start winning PG will be a point of discourse and tension for a long
                    It's gotten to the point where I'm half expecting Kravitz to write a column saying that the Pacers should retire #13 for Kevin Seraphin just for spite.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                      Decent article and an enlightenment to all that don't follow Pacers. But, to us, this is the obvious and while reading it I felt that the Pacers let not just Paul down, but the fans as well. I felt that much of what Paul has said is really the only thing he can say. Damned if he does, damned if he don't. At the end of all this, I hope the Pacers have learned from this experience and will do a much better job to seize the moment, not for the next All Pro Pacer, but for the Pacer Fan.
                      Garbage players get 1st round picks, (WTF)! All of the NBA must hate the Pacers! LOL

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                        Just glad to jettison PG and all his BS drama. He'll never be as good as HE sees himself. He's VERY good, but he does not realize any limitations in his game/situation.
                        I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.

                        -Emiliano Zapata

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                          Nice writing by Conrad.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                            It's the truth

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Dear OKC, here's what to expect from PG

                              Originally posted by wintermute View Post
                              PG's gone. He's OKC's problem now.

                              Maybe it's time for people, including local writers, to



                              You'd all feel better for it.


                              They haven't even let the Granger trade go LOL
                              @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

                              Comment

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