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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

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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"

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"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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Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

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  • #1

    Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking


    2007-08 Power Rankings: Week 6

    RANK (LAST WK)TEAMREC.COMMENT
    1 (4)Spurs17-3Only Pop could greet a start like this with caution and/or indifference like this: ''We've had bad starts in the past, we've had good starts in the past and neither one is indicative of whether we won a championship.''
    2 (1)Magic16-5Before its first 'bad' L of the season -- and losing at home to the Pacers isn't exactly heinous with how they're playing -- Orlando racked up another impressive road W at Golden State. So it's only a one-spot dip.
    3 (3)Celtics17-2I know, I know: Boston had nothing to do with spitting out such a cake early schedule. But I can't help it: Boston can't wow me more than the Spurs and Magic have until the schedule gets harder, like it or not.
    4 (2)Suns16-5This might be a harsh drop after the 120.8 ppg Phoenix averaged in a 5-0 run against East opposition, but scoring only 93 points and losing in Minny is inevitably going to be costly when things are so tight at the top.
    5 (6)Pistons14-6Only one win in the Pistons' 6-1 run came against a winning team (New Orleans). So the focus remains on their ramped-up offense more than the competition, with the Pistons topping 100 points in five of those wins.
    6 (7)Hornets14-7The concerns about low attendance figure aren't just business-related. Not if you believe that the empty seats have a basketball impact as well, with the Hornets just 6-5 at home compared to 8-2 on the road.
    7 (5)Jazz13-8Just a hunch here, but I'm guessing Jerry Sloan isn't all that impressed with Utah matching Denver's 107.1 ppg. Not when the Jazz are just 5-7 on the road and surrendering a very-un-Sloan-like 100.7 ppg defensively.
    8 (13)Lakers12-8The Lakers are probably not going to win 50 games, Phil Jackson says. Don't think they can afford to be too far away, though, because last season's 42 wins probably won't be enough for a playoff berth this season.
    9 (8)Mavericks13-8It's true that the Mavs shouldn't panic during this bad stretch when everyone knows that their season will be entirely judged on playoff success. But making a trade run at Kidd isn't panic. It's a no-brainer.
    10 (11)Nuggets13-8For those of you who like to monitor these sorts of things, Iverson (25.3 ppg) has wrested the Nuggets' team scoring lead from Melo (24.7 ppg) with last week's back-to-back detonations of 51 and 35 points.
    11 (9)Warriors11-9The nightmare start is a memory, thanks to an 8-2 surge and 114.7 ppg in that span, but the Warriors better win Friday when the Lakers come to Oaktown. They're (yikes) 1-14 in teams' past 15 meetings with Sunday's L.
    12 (15)Pacers10-10The Pacers follow up a heartbreaking home defeat to Phoenix with a stirring victory in Orlando. More justification that Indy, at the season's quarter pole, is a clear-cut No. 1 in the Showing Us Up rankings.
    13 (10)Rockets11-10Isn't this supposed to be the best-ever supporting cast around T-Mac and Yao? T-Mac is wondering the same judging by this quote: ''Until everybody else contributes [and] we get bench production, we'll be a mediocre team.''
    14 (16)Wizards10-10The Wiz continue to hang in at 7-5 sans Arenas, which allows them to focus for the moment on the silver linings: Butler and Jamison are playing as well as ever; Blatche and Young are getting unexpected opportunities.
    15 (14)Raptors11-10Considering where it was after 21 games last season -- at 7-14 -- and given all the injury woes so far endured by Bosh and other key contributors, Toronto can't be too disappointed to be a game over .500.
    16 (12)Cavaliers9-12It has to be discussed because I know you're thinking it: LeBron's injured finger must be more than sprained if the man-child has missed six games with it, during which Cleveland is 0-6 and averaging 80.7 ppg. Right?
    17 (20)Bulls6-12Is the worst over? Maybe so, but Chicago is still the only team in the league scoring less than 90 ppg, putting them miles behind the new-look Celts even though it's the Bulls who've been together so much longer.
    18 (17)Nets9-12Interesting factoid to ponder while waiting for the slumping Nets to decide if Kidd is staying or going: At 8.7 rpg, Kidd is 23rd in the league . . . ahead of the likes of Stoudemire (8.5), Nowitzki (8.3) and Shaq (7.8).
    19 (22)Hawks9-10The three victims in Atlanta's 3-1 start to December were a combined 16-42 as of Monday morning. But this part of the Hawks' start stands out in a good way: They're actually 5-3 against Western Conference opposition.
    20 (27)Trail Blazers8-12It's not enough to make people forget that Oden will miss his entire rookie season, but Aldridge has certainly responded. He's racked up six double-doubles already, compared to just five in 63 games as a rook.
    21 (18)Bucks8-11The worst part about the abrupt end to the Bucks' fantastic start was the timing. They hit the skids and lost their confidence just as they were starting a 36-game stretch with only 14 home games.
    22 (19)Kings7-12The Kings' impressive list of home upsets is up to four, with Utah joining Detroit, San Antonio and Houston as the latest Arco victim. But there was no celebrating with Kevin Martin joining Bibby on the long-term injury list.
    23 (26)76ers7-13The widespread belief that Larry Brown would swoop down to bump off Cheeks was the only suspense this team generated with Billy King in charge. In the Stefanski Era, you're only waiting for the Andre Miller trade.
    24 (23)Heat5-15Why is everyone so edgy in Miami's locker room? Riles, Shaq and D-Wade obviously remember that the Heat started 5-8 last season and didn't reach .500 until mid-February. How long will it take now from 5-15?
    25 (21)Grizzlies6-14The Grizz keep losing all the close ones -- 0-6 in games decided by three points or less -- but we're seeing a better, more active Gasol: Four straight double-doubles after just three double-digit rebound games in November.
    26 (25)Bobcats7-12Don't blame the Bobs for failing to land Varejao because they never really had a chance. Blame them for continually ignoring the one quality big man they do have; Charlotte is 1-7 when Okafor gets nine shots or less.
    27 (24)Clippers7-12With a home defeat to road-weary Miami, L.A.'s nosedive has reached 3-12 since its 4-0 launch. Elton Brand's incentive to hustle back by February, in other words, is dwindling by the day.
    28 (28)Knicks6-13Question for you, Knicks Nation: Why don't we ever hear a "Fi-re Do-lan" chant at The Garden? It flows better than "Fire I-si-ah" . . . and, well, why stop to worry whether Dolan's dad actually has the juice to do it or not?
    29 (29)SuperSonics5-16Big month for the Sonics already. The second month of Durant's career sees Seattle win its first game against a Western Conference foe (Clippers) and his first winning streak (a two-gamer) as a pro.
    30 (30)Timberwolves3-15When Houston went to Phoenix and held the Suns to 94 points, we were floored. When the Wolves hosted Phoenix on Saturday night and held the Suns to 93, we couldn't come up with a word for our reaction.
    This is the darkest timeline.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

    I like it!! Definitely would be nice to be a Cinderella type team. Throw back to the early 90's.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

      The Magic's rating is ridiculous. They should be ninth or tenth.
      You Got The Tony!!!!!!

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

        Yeah, the Magic are rated a little too high IMO aswell, but I'm thinking 4 or 5 at this point in the season.
        2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

        2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

        2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

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        • #5
          Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

          The fact that he kept the Magic so high is him trying to make a point that the Pacers are a very good team and there is no shame in losing to us.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

            another interesting tidbit from that.

            Only one win in the Pistons' 6-1 run came against a winning team.

            I'm sorry but they don't worry me like they have in years past. I think they'll hold their own, but I won't think they'll run away with the division like they have in years past.

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

              Magic follow it up with another home loss, this time to the promising Hawks.

              Reminder, the Magic were 14-5 to start last season. Then they lost in Indy. By the end of December they were 18-14. By the end of Feb. they were sub-500. It took a strong finish just to get back to 40-42 and make the weak bottom half of the East playoffs.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                Originally posted by TheDon View Post
                another interesting tidbit from that.

                Only one win in the Pistons' 6-1 run came against a winning team.
                Yeah, hold it against us that we had a soft schedule the last week or so after opening up playing 8 of our first 10 games on the road.

                Newsflash: any win over an east team not in Boston or Orlando is a win over a team that does not have a winning record.

                I'm sorry but they don't worry me like they have in years past.
                ....because we had a 6-1 record against soft competition?

                I'd ask if beating the Pacers would be more convincing, but that would just be another win against a team without a winning record...

                I think they'll hold their own, but I won't think they'll run away with the division like they have in years past.
                A 4 game lead after 1 1/2 months is a pretty decent head start....
                Last edited by Kstat; 12-11-2007, 03:57 PM.

                It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                  They just don't worry me, they have a good record but so did the magic and a better one than the pistons. I look forward to facing the pistons later this season. Pistons have given chicago 1/3 of their wins this season so far, yeah they're really awesome and losing to Portland and Sacramento further justifies their awesomeness.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                    I mean we lost to Seattle...


                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                      Originally posted by TheDon View Post
                      and losing to Portland and Sacramento further justifies their awesomeness.
                      ...and what would you call losing to Seattle, Charlotte and the Clippers?

                      It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                      Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                      Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                      NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                        Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                        ...and what would you call losing to Seattle, Charlotte and the Clippers?
                        Hey!!! The Clippers were undefeated at the time and we returned the favor. And Seattle and Charlotte were road games.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                          JO wasn't healthy for the start of the season. Detroit has had the fortune of being at full strength and healthy for 90% of their games.

                          Pacers have done well without a healthy JO. It will take some time for everyone to get the new system down and develop some chemistry. Things do look promising and few people outside of us diehard Pacers fans would have had us at almost the fourth best team in the Eastern Conference at this stage. This last fact is a bit rosy-colored as the P's are just a 0.500 team and teams like Cleveland, Chicago, Washington, and Miami have had injuries or off-season surgeries to recover from and/or slow starts. All but Washington are apt to make a move up in the standings.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                            Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                            ...and what would you call losing to Seattle, Charlotte and the Clippers?
                            The Charlotte one was a bad loss, but Seattle - 3rd game in 4 nights, and the Clippers game - Kaman with 20+ rebounds and Sam Cassel not being able to miss all night long. How do you justify losing to chicago twice? I'll admit they've been on the upswing as of late but i'm pretty sure the pistons gave chicago one of if not their first win earlier this season.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Marc Stein gives the Pacers some love (Power Rankings)

                              Originally posted by iPACER View Post
                              JO wasn't healthy for the start of the season. Detroit has had the fortune of being at full strength and healthy for 90% of their games.
                              Are you kidding me?

                              We haven't been at full strength for one game this season, and several games we were missing two starters. We STILL haven't had our projected rotation for one game this year.

                              Our starting PF has knee problems.

                              Our starting center nearly tore his shoulder off.

                              Our starting SG has a sprained ankle.

                              Our starting PG has a badly bruised hip.

                              Our 3rd guard has three broken bones on his left hand and hasn't played a game this season.

                              Fortune? What the **** have you been watching?
                              Last edited by Kstat; 12-11-2007, 05:32 PM.

                              It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                              Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                              Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                              NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                              Comment

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