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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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Report: NBA studying flopping

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  • Report: NBA studying flopping

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/s...e=NBAHeadlines

    Flopping is already illegal in international play. Now, it might become illegal in the NBA, as well.


    The NBA is studying how often flopping occurs and whether officials can tell the difference between flops and actual fouls, Stu Jackson, the NBA's executive vice president for basketball operations, told Bloomberg News in a story published Thursday.


    "They're really difficult to determine in real time. They're meant to fool an official," Jackson said. "Are we going to be wrong more times than not? It's tough, but we're looking at it."


    Jackson said the NBA is considering whether to allow its officials to impose technical fouls for flopping, which FIBA, the governing body of international basketball, allows its referees to do. Other sports, such as hockey and soccer, also allow referees to penalize players who flop.


    "We have so many more plays than you do in a football or soccer game and in a more intimate environment," he said.
    Jackson didn't give a timetable for the league to make a decision.
    I know a certain former Pacer made a living off of it (and other things), but I think they should come down on flopping if possible. I like the FIBA rule: Don't give them a reason to even think you're flopping.

  • #2
    Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

    Another issue on fouling I wished the league would look into are those fouls along the perimeter where the offensive player "jumps" into the defender. Since the player on offense initiates the contact, it should be a call against him IMO, not the defender.

    Originally posted by Hicks View Post
    I know a certain former Pacer made a living off of it (and other things), but I think they should come down on flopping if possible. I like the FIBA rule: Don't give them a reason to even think you're flopping.
    Not to mention that leg-kickout trick he made so famous a few other players started using it (i.e., Rip Hamilton and I've even seen T-Mac go there once or twice.)

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

      Originally posted by NuffSaid View Post
      Another issue on fouling I wished the league would look into are those fouls along the perimeter where the offensive player "jumps" into the defender. Since the player on offense initiates the contact, it should be a call against him IMO, not the defender.
      As long as this isn't retroactive, I'm with you on it.

      The charge taking too. Some refs are worse than Dick Vitale are judging these.
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      • #4
        Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

        I don't think flopping is nearly as prevalent the past couple of seasons as it has been for years. However, it is still there and warrants looking into.

        Also, I'm with Nuffsaid about the jumping into a defender. A player has the rule of vertically behind him. When a shooter gets a player to go straight up or is actually moving away from the shooter, and the shooter jumps into the defender, it should not be a foul. This call is normally reserved for the stars. It really gripes me when they jump into a defender and wildly throw a shot up to get a trip to the line. It's obvious and the refs should be reminded by Stu that crap has to stop.
        .

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

          Originally posted by NuffSaid View Post
          Another issue on fouling I wished the league would look into are those fouls along the perimeter where the offensive player "jumps" into the defender. Since the player on offense initiates the contact, it should be a call against him IMO, not the defender.



          Not to mention that leg-kickout trick he made so famous a few other players started using it (i.e., Rip Hamilton and I've even seen T-Mac go there once or twice.)
          Didn't the refs actually start calling fouls on reggie with the kickout? I remember seeing it a few times against the Pistons in the playoffs and then I'd see Rip do the same thing and not be called on it.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

            I've said it, and I'll say it again, flopping is an art. 70% of charges are flops. It's all a part of the game.

            and I swear I am not saying this just because of a certain former Pacer.
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            • #7
              Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

              Originally posted by NuffSaid View Post
              Another issue on fouling I wished the league would look into are those fouls along the perimeter where the offensive player "jumps" into the defender. Since the player on offense initiates the contact, it should be a call against him IMO, not the defender.



              Not to mention that leg-kickout trick he made so famous a few other players started using it (i.e., Rip Hamilton and I've even seen T-Mac go there once or twice.)
              so what your saying is, if defender jumps into the air, the offensive player should wait for him to come down before taking the jump shot?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                It's about damn time.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                  Originally posted by stew View Post
                  so what your saying is, if defender jumps into the air, the offensive player should wait for him to come down before taking the jump shot?
                  No, but if the defender jumps straight in the air, and the shooter jumps forward (from a standing position) just to initiate contact and draw a foul, then actually that should be an OFFENSIVE foul.

                  Reggie was famous for getting calls for that, partially because of his odd shooting stroke (sticking his elbows out in front of him).

                  But I saw Reggie get called for the offensive foul sometimes as well in that situation.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                    Um, there is some irony here that the reason FIBA has to have a rule is because it is so rampant in international play. It didn't take off till Euro players like Divac came over and started going nuts with it.

                    It's not like the World Championships looked flop-free, and I'm talking about watching games not involving the US team.

                    In other words, GFL fixing this problem. Not gonna happen. Too vague, too difficult to be certain. Refs try to fix it already by making non-calls on what appear to be flops.

                    Try to take a charge with a flop and you get the blocking call every time, at least if its obvious enough to warrant a tech by some new rule. As others mentioned, Reggie started having a tougher time getting the leg-kick call for a similar reason.

                    This is a non-story to me, at least in terms of foreseeable results.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                      I thought there was rule in place in the NBA about rule of verticality, because of Reggie.

                      An offensive player can't jump to the side to make contact, but he can jump forward. It happened in the Bulls game, right in front of the Pacer bench and RC went nuts because they called the foul, I think, on DA instead of Gordon.
                      Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                        What's next, will they blow a whistle on a guy who hollers out on a foul?
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                        • #13
                          Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                          To add to the discussion, the IHSAA has a rule of emphasize since the 03-04 season that flopping when taking a charge is an automatic technical foul.

                          I've never seen it called, eventhough I would have liked to have some Ts give out during our regional game that first year, but that's another story.

                          When put in place they said it was to prevent injuries BTW.
                          Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                            Originally posted by RWB View Post
                            What's next, will they blow a whistle on a guy who hollers out on a foul?
                            Rasheed has already gotten T's for just that.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Report: NBA studying flopping

                              This is impossible to inforce. A rule like this will only make it worse.

                              Right now, people only get pissed when a player flops and gets the call. This rule would help a bit a first, but then we have the problem of players getting "caught" when they weren't flopping at all. So the refs back off a bit and only call the foul when it's really obvious. But then the home team gets pissed when they feel a call is obviously a flop but the ref thought it was too close to call. Then the crowd boos. The ref thinks "I need to loosen my definition". So then the home team sort-of flops and the ref calls it. Now the crowd is really booing. So now he's calling everything. The road team commits a contact foul and they call it a flop. The opposing coach is livid and gets a tech. Now the road team just got a normal foul, an extra shot for the flop, and a tech, and everyone thinks the game is fixed............


                              No thanks. Let's continue to have the refs swallow the whistle whenever they can if they see a flop, and let's continue to credit successful flops on veteran savy.
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