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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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Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

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  • Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

    Well, we're 3 games past the half-way point of the season. Seems like a good time to reflect on the first half of the year and what may be in store during the second half of the season.

    We're sitting at 33-11, a good 3.5 games up on the Pistons and the East, not to mention we already own the season-series between the two teams. We've won at NJ (twice) and at Detroit. We've lost some tough games on the road against the West's upper-echelon teams, but held our own at home against some of these same teams (SA and Minny).

    It's no secret that coaching can do wonders for an NBA team, assuming the players buy-in to the system. That said, the introduction of Rick Carlisle has, so far, proven to be the difference between last year and this year. Granted, we had a similar record at this point in the season last year, but this year just feels different. We have a confident team, no doubt; and that attitude has translated into the expectation of winning every game we play. I think this is partly attributable to the maturation of a young team, and is mostly the cause of an excellent coaching staff. Our "sytem" is outstanding for the team management has put together. Everything starts with defense this year, and it is beautiful.

    Individually, we've received contributions from almost every player on the team, and it seems everyone has stepped up their game from a year ago (as should be expected). O'Neal seems to take it to the next level every year. Artest has quickly become my favorite player to watch in the entire league. It seems like he's "figured it out" this year. Not to mention Tinsley, Al, and Foster, who have all made significant contributions so far. Even Reggie seems to be getting his legs back. It's too much to get into detail on each player, but this has truly become a fun team to watch. Again, the coaching staff deserves credit, but so do the players.

    I was of the opinion that the loss of Brad Miller would significantly hurt the team. I miss Big Ugly and I'm still a little upset at his departure, but I'm finally ready to move past that. (It still sucks to watch him put up near triple-doubles night after night, though).

    Even after a successful first half of the season, there is much work to be done. Actually, we haven't done squat yet, and I don't want this post to seem like some sort of celebration. I hope to see the same attitude and cohesiveness as we saw in the first 44 games in the next 38. I trust Rick to keep them on that path. I think Shade posted that we will need 58 wins to match the club record. That is a legitimate goal for this team right now. That means we would need to go 25-13 the rest of the way to break the record . . . and that is attainable. I'd be happy with 60 and, if we continue to play solid ball against a weaker 2nd half schedule, I think we'll get there.

    The playoffs are an entirely different demon. Our style of play is conducive to playoff-type games. Will that translate into playoff-series victories? It better. There's nothing worse than a terrific season being wiped out by a poor showing come post-season. And, no matter how you look at it, success will breed expectations. To me, nothing short of a Finals appearance would be acceptable for this team. That's saying a lot about a team that has failed to get out of the first round in 3 years, but that must be our goal.


  • #2
    Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

    People keep talking about how last season we started strong and colapsed so the strong start is suspect. Remember that strong start was a carryover from the strong series against the Nets.

    This year we started well AFTER colapsing last year. One thing changed Rick Carlisle. He has installed a system that is not smoke and mirrors and the players can see that if they stick with it they are going to go deep into the playoffs.

    Last years Pacer team is a lot like this years New Orleans team. Lots of early wins because the offense is new and exciting and they are not expending any real effort on D. Now that teams have adjusted to their offense and their D is routinley being beaten they are falling apart. Too bad for them Rick wont be arround to pick up in the off season

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

      I though at the beginnig of the season we'd be around 48 wins. Had anyone said 60 I'd think they were crazy. That said I think we should get 60 wins and if we don't that would be a let down.

      A lot of the perdiction talk was tied to what the team needed to do to justify the coaching change. At the time for me to be convienced all that had to be done was past the 1st round. Now I think the move has already proved itself to be the right move. The team is playing much, much stronger has the best record and all of this minus an All-star.

      This is a great time to be a Pacer fan.
      "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

      "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

        all of this minus an All-star
        we may have lost one in brad...but we gained one in the new and improved Ron Artest

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

          all of this minus an All-star
          we may have lost one in brad...but we gained one in the new and improved Ron Artest

          Ron was an All star until the Miami game. He simply needed direction and discipline. Something IT clearly could not provide.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

            Ron was a borderline all-star last year partly because we had Brad to split up Pacer votes and partly because it was his break out season on a good team. I don't think his behavior was what cost him a spot. In fact, though I'm not entirely sure, the votes were all ready in when the Miami game happened.

            This year Ron is a much stronger All star selection because the above reasons against his selection no longer apply and mostly because his level of play has improved. Which I think Rick has a bigger part of than he takes credit for not only because of disipline but he asks Ron to do more such as play Team D and play within the offense.
            "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

            "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

              Ron is not being voted in by the fans this year either. It is the coaches vote he lost with the Miami incident.

              I do believe the coaches would have given us Ron last year and that Brad was the replacement for Ron because of his behavior.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                I predicted 56 wins at the beginning of the season. I was going to be bold and predict 58, but I let you all get inside my head.

                I did, however, predict a trip to the finals with us beating either SA or LA. Doesn't seem so preposterous now.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                  Ron is not being voted in by the fans this year either. It is the coaches vote he lost with the Miami incident.

                  I do believe the coaches would have given us Ron last year and that Brad was the replacement for Ron because of his behavior.
                  Yes I realize that Ron wasn't being voted in by the fans.

                  I believe that the coaches cast thier votes the day of the Miami game so that they were in before the Miami incident.

                  Who knows who the coaches thought was better, Ron or Brad, when they voted in Brad. I just know they voted in Brad.
                  "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

                  "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                    I remember the announcers saying that the coaches voting was the next day and that outburst had probably just cost him the all star game.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                      I did, however, predict a trip to the finals with us beating either SA or LA. Doesn't seem so preposterous now.
                      I hope you are right...but there is a LONG way to go

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                        There is no question in my mind his antics last year cost him an all-star berth. To leave him off this year would absolutely unforgiveable.
                        The best exercise of the human heart is reaching down and picking someone else up.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                          Here's what I was thinking of

                          "Coaches' votes for All-Star reserves were due at 1 p.m. Monday and Indiana's Artest snagged the seventh and final slot on my pretend coach's ballot. Then the Pacers played the Miami Heat a few hours later and made me wish I could take my pretend vote back."


                          I know its Stein but I'm not imaging it.
                          "They could turn out to be only innocent mathematicians, I suppose," muttered Woevre's section officer, de Decker.

                          "'Only.'" Woevre was amused. "Someday you'll explain to me how that's possible. Seeing that, on the face of it, all mathematics leads, doesn't it, sooner or later, to some kind of human suffering."

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                            I thought the coaches' votes were already submitted before the Miami game last year.
                            Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
                            Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
                            Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
                            Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
                            And life itself, rushing over me
                            Life itself, the wind in black elms,
                            Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Reflecting on the 1st Half of the Season and A Look Ahead

                              I guess so. Imagine that an announcer talking out of his @ss

                              Either that or my memory sucks worse than I think it does.

                              Comment

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