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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"

"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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Where do we rank now?

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  • Where do we rank now?

    Okay, assuming we didn't give up and players for Al, and let's also assume, at least at this point, that the roster we have is what we'll start the season with (neither Freddie nor Polly are re-signed). Where do you think we rank in the coming season with a roster of:

    C - JO/Harrison
    PF - Al/Foster
    SF - Danny/Williams
    SG - Jack/Quis/White
    PG - AJ/Tins/Runi/Green

  • #2
    Re: Where do we rank now?

    Behind Miami, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, NJ.
    Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Where do we rank now?

      I don't think there is a lack of talent with that bunch. I am concerned about outside shooting. I think the biggest key will just be energy and effort. If we are looking to increase the tempo, that takes effort and a commitment to that type of execution. For me the question is are these the type of guys that will be committed to hustling on both ends of the floor? I don't know if enough of this unit will be able to commit to that to execute it properly. If there is a committment to the team concept, I like our chances most nights. That roster has good size and could cause defenders fits. I'd still like to see a more consistent shooter in the mix, however, to keep defenses a little more honest when playing our bigs.

      And to answer the post...let's say a perfect world, everyone is healthy and does their job, top four in the east easy.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Where do we rank now?

        On paper, 1st in the East. With our chemistry and setup, probably 4th or 5th best.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Where do we rank now?

          The off-season isn't over. Obviously, we have way too many point guards and not enough shooting. Donnie said straight up he would address the latter. I'm guessing he will once the Al business is over with. Ask this question again come October, I think it will be easier to answer then.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Where do we rank now?

            Originally posted by Hicks
            On paper, 1st in the East.
            ...


            Seriously, though, maybe 6-7th in the East.
            2010 IKL Fantasy Basketball Champion Baltimore Bulldogs

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            • #7
              Re: Where do we rank now?

              Originally posted by Hicks
              On paper, 1st in the East. With our chemistry and setup, probably 4th or 5th best.
              If we get Al, I think you'll see him and Jermaine really leading this team. I think it will help chemistry a lot. That's why I think it was so important for us to try to get Al.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Where do we rank now?

                JO/Al/Granger is one of the best front courts in the league, easily. Thats 55 points and 27 rebounds with pretty solid D. How many front courts can say that?

                The bench is also phenomonal, one of the best benches I\'ve seen in a long, long time. Foster, Daniels, Johnson, Jasikeivius, Harrison is an awesome bench. We\'ve also got one of the proven best coaches in the league. The biggest flaw is our starting backcourt, Tinsley and Jackson is an average starting backcourt, neither player is a star, although both are pretty good. But then again teams have proven then can win with average backcourts, check this years Mavs team.

                I\'d say we\'d finish #2 in the East behind Miami. 55 wins.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Where do we rank now?

                  Originally posted by bulldog
                  ...


                  Seriously, though, maybe 6-7th in the East.
                  I'm not kidding. Detroit's going to fall back to the middle of the pack. I still don't fear Miami. They've never impressed me as a team that can really kick your *** consistently like Detroit, San Antonio, or LA a few years back. Chicago's going to be (possibly very) good, but I think people overrate their backcourt.

                  Cleveland looks the same right now. That's good, but not great. If you had our talent play as well as it did in 2004, we'd be the 1st seed. Problem is, our team's psyche seems to be **** now. If that's fixed, either by more trades or a year where things don't go sour (Artest, injuries), which I theorize COULD be enough to keep the wheels on this bunch (especially with Al back in the picture; he's a glue guy), then yes, I think we'll be back to 2004 prominance.

                  I'm NOT saying that's what I expect, but it wouldn't shock me either. If it happens, many will be -ing all year that it's going to screw up, and it might, but without the injury bug and "Ronnie" around, it may not, either.

                  Realistically, it's more likely that things won't work out with the guys still here, but I think it's more like 60-40 or 65-35 than 95-5 that many believe.



                  Washington is another team that I think will be good, not great. Same with New Jersey.

                  I think if we stay healthy, we'll be somewhere from Washington/New Jersey to Cleveland's level, and if we stay healthy and our chemistry is OK to good again, we'll be at the top.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Where do we rank now?

                    Originally posted by Hicks
                    I'm not kidding. Detroit's going to fall back to the middle of the pack. I still don't fear Miami. They've never impressed me as a team that can really kick your *** consistently like Detroit, San Antonio, or LA a few years back. Chicago's going to be (possibly very) good, but I think people overrate their backcourt.

                    Cleveland looks the same right now. That's good, but not great. If you had our talent play as well as it did in 2004, we'd be the 1st seed. Problem is, our team's psyche seems to be **** now. If that's fixed, either by more trades or a year where things don't go sour (Artest, injuries), which I theorize COULD be enough to keep the wheels on this bunch (especially with Al back in the picture; he's a glue guy), then yes, I think we'll be back to 2004 prominance.

                    I'm NOT saying that's what I expect, but it wouldn't shock me either. If it happens, many will be -ing all year that it's going to screw up, and it might, but without the injury bug and "Ronnie" around, it may not, either.

                    Realistically, it's more likely that things won't work out with the guys still here, but I think it's more like 60-40 or 65-35 than 95-5 that many believe.



                    Washington is another team that I think will be good, not great. Same with New Jersey.

                    I think if we stay healthy, we'll be somewhere from Washington/New Jersey to Cleveland's level, and if we stay healthy and our chemistry is OK to good again, we'll be at the top.

                    I would have bought Miami not being extremely impressive a year ago, but I don't see how you can sit here and say you don't fear them after they won the title. Who cares if they "kick your *** consistently" or not, they got the job done.

                    There is no way we are a potentially better team than one with Wade and Shaquille O'Neal on it. It looks like the supporting cast will be strong again.

                    You said Detroit, SA, and LA all consistently kicked ***, but they all had sticky spots. It took Detroit 7 games to get past NJ in 04, 7 games to get past Miami in 05. It took LA 7 games to get past the Blazers in 00, and 7 to get past the Kings in 02. Wait a second, Miami didn't need 7 games to win any of their series this year. They won them all in 6 games or less.

                    Miami would demolish us in a series. We have no player that can somewhat counter Wade at all.

                    It's easily Miami's conference to win. They only won 52 games last year anyway.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Where do we rank now?

                      1st Chicago
                      2nd Miami
                      3rd Detroit
                      4th Indiana
                      5th Cleveland
                      6th New Jersey
                      7th Washington
                      8th Orlando

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Where do we rank now?

                        Originally posted by marcus
                        1st Chicago
                        2nd Miami
                        3rd Detroit
                        4th Indiana
                        5th Cleveland
                        6th New Jersey
                        7th Washington
                        8th Orlando
                        just because Chicago got Ben Wallace doesnt mean they are #1..atleast not ot me. Miami gets the #1 spot from me since after all they ARE the defending champions. Here is my tops:

                        1st Miami
                        2nd Cleveland
                        3rd Chicago
                        4th Detroit
                        5th Indiana
                        6th New Jersey
                        7th Washington
                        8th Orlando
                        If you havin' depth problems, I feel bad for you son; I got 99 problems but a bench ain't one! - Hicks
                        [/center]
                        @thatguyjoe84

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Where do we rank now?

                          Originally posted by aero
                          just because Chicago got Ben Wallace doesnt mean they are #1..atleast not ot me. Miami gets the #1 spot from me since after all they ARE the defending champions. Here is my tops:

                          1st Miami
                          2nd Cleveland
                          3rd Chicago
                          4th Detroit
                          5th Indiana
                          6th New Jersey
                          7th Washington
                          8th Orlando
                          I can't stand Miami so I refuse to put them first. I think that Chicago is going to be able to win a lot of regular season games, they have a good coach.
                          But accually, I kinda see where your coming from with you list. As for Miami, I just don't see teams letting Wade get to the line as much as he did in the playoffs.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Where do we rank now?

                            Originally posted by Hicks
                            I'm not kidding.
                            OK then, but I strongly diagree with you. The East is going to be very difficult this year; as you mentioned, no one dominant team, but a bunch of very good ones.

                            As long as Miami has Wade they're ahead of us. I think you're underestimating Detroit, their window has closed but they're still a solid team that has more experience, is (still) stronger defensively, and has more balanced scoring than we do. Chicago will be a very strong team, not just because of Wallace, but as a progression of what they've been building on the past few years. That's the cream of the crop in the East.

                            We fit in the middle of the pack, and I can see how we could finish anywhere in the next 5-6 spots.

                            Cleveland will improve as Lebron improves, and I'm still interested to see how Hughes will work out when healthy over the course of a season. New Jersey has kicked our butts consistently, and still features better scoring and now much better young talent (Williams, Krstic) to go along with their veterans. I think these two teams will finish ahead of us for sure.

                            Right now, I think we're there with the Wizards and Milwaukee, and I expect either Orlando or Toronto (or perhaps both) to make solid improvements this year. And who knows what will happen with Boston, which has some interesting young talent and is looking to make some aggressive moves.

                            There's a lot of solid teams in the East, and I don't see how, even talent wise, our squad is much better than any of them.

                            1st Miami
                            2nd Chicago
                            3rd Detroit
                            4th New Jersey
                            5th Cleveland
                            6th Milwaukee
                            7th Indiana
                            8th Washington
                            ------------------
                            9th Toronto
                            10th Orlando
                            11th Boston
                            12th Philadelphia
                            2010 IKL Fantasy Basketball Champion Baltimore Bulldogs

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Where do we rank now?

                              What has Cleveland done so merit so much respect? Yes, they have Lebron. But Z is a year older and there are no guarantees that Gooden will be back. LeBron is all they have at the moment so I don't think you can put them in the top 4 in the east.

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