Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

Pacers Blue Print from Insider

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Pacers Blue Print from Insider

    The Pacers won a league-best and team-record 61 games last season. They took the eventual world champs deep into the Eastern Conference finals. They still have one of the youngest rosters in the league. So why has there been so much trade talk swirling around Indiana these days?

    "We're just trying to make our team better," team president Donnie Walsh told Insider. "I don't think were looking to make a major change. But we know we have a few weaknesses. During the course of the season we covered them well. But they got exposed to a certain extent in the Detroit series. It's our job to smooth out the rough edges."

    Summer Blueprints
    What will your team be up to this summer? NBA Insider Chad Ford breaks it down

    # New Jersey Nets
    # Memphis Grizzlies
    # New York Knicks
    # Denver Nuggets
    # San Antonio Spurs
    # Dallas Mavericks
    # Houston Rockets
    # Charlotte Bobcats
    # L.A. Lakers
    # Sacramento Kings
    # Utah Jazz
    # Philadelphia 76ers
    # Atlanta Hawks
    # Washington Wizards
    # Phoenix Suns
    # Cleveland Cavaliers
    # Seattle SuperSonics
    # Chicago Bulls
    # Golden State Warriors
    # Los Angeles Clippers
    # Orlando Magic
    # Boston Celtics
    # Portland Trail Blazers

    It's already been an eventful summer for the Pacers.

    For starters, Al Harrington, the teams' sixth man, asked Larry Bird for a trade in his exit interview. Then Ron Artest, the defensive player of the year, skipped his exit interview completely.

    Add those to the team's disappointing guard play in the playoffs, and the Pacers entered the offseason willing to make a deal. Their point guard needs to get older and more experienced. Their two guard is getting older by the minute. Their perimeter game, offensively and defensively, needs help, and they seem determined to fix it.

    Indiana already has been in hot pursuit of everyone from T-Mac to Shaq to Ben Gordon this summer. Don't expect Bird to stop until he gets what he wants.

    Should the Pacers mess with a good thing? Here's a look at what to expect as Insider continues its summer blueprint series.

    Pacers Summer Blueprint

    DRAFT: It's usually slim pickings by the time a team gets to the last pick of the first round. So the Pacers had to be stunned to find an experienced, talented, 7-footer -- who actually plays like a center -- on the board in David Harrison.


    The Pacers added center David Harrison in the draft, bringing some heft to their frontcourt.
    Questions about Harrison's maturity and conditioning plagued him throughout his three years at Colorado, but scouts think he has a ton of talent. Think Michael Olowokandi in a much more reasonable draft range. The fact is, the Pacers don't have a big banger like Harrison, and if he develops, he could help almost immediately.

    The team also tried hard to move up in the draft to land either Ben Gordon, Shaun Livingston or Luke Jackson. In the end, they didn't pull the trigger, but their willingness to trade up speaks volumes about their perceived needs.

    FREE AGENCY: The Pacers are capped out at the moment. The good news is they don't have anyone significant heading into free agency. Anthony Johnson and Kenny Anderson are their biggest free-agent names.

    The bad news is that in an effort to keep their cap situation from getting out of hand, the Pacers don't figure to be major players on the free-agent market.

    They've shown some interest in unrestricted free agent Erick Dampier, but under almost every scenario it would be via sign-and-trade. If they can't land Damp -- and they certainly aren't the front runners -- Boston's Mark Blount is also high on their list. The Hawks' Stephen Jackson also has received a lot of interest from the club and might be workable if his contract expectations are realistic. Other free agents in whom the team has a passing interest include Hedo Turkoglu, Jamal Crawford and Brent Barry.

    However, at this point the Pacers don't appear to be leaning toward adding a player in free agency. Instead, they have numerous assets in the front court, a logjam really, that can be used to land a far more valuable player via trade.


    Al Harrington
    Small Forward
    Indiana Pacers
    Profile


    2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
    GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
    79 13.3 6.4 1.7 .463 .734
    TRADES: The Pacers dangled Harrington for several weeks before the draft in an effort to get up into the lottery. However, several sources claim they pulled Harrington off the table at the last minute.

    Previously, they had offered Harrington as part of a package for Tracy McGrady. It's clear Indiana sees Harrington as its primary trade bait.

    "We've talked to a lot of teams about him," Walsh told Insider. "He's been the focal point of a lot of trade discussions. But we're not giving him away, and I think teams have to understand that."

    The Pacers really want to upgrade their starting backcourt. Jamaal Tinsley has been spotty as the team's point guard, and Reggie Miller is ready to celebrate his 95th birthday. While both players still have been productive, the team wants more leadership at the point and a younger shooter at the two.


    Ron Artest
    Small Forward
    Indiana Pacers
    Profile


    2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
    GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
    73 18.3 5.3 3.7 .421 .733
    While Harrington has been the subject of much discussion, Artest also has been mentioned in certain trade scenarios. While Artest is a beast defensively, he's unpredictable and makes the Pacers a little nervous. When he blew off his season-ending meeting with the front office, it fueled speculation he could be on the block.

    Walsh wouldn't label Artest untouchable, but he did say it would take an amazing offer to pry him away. "I think that all of the attention to Ron's behavior has been blown out of proportion," Walsh told Insider. "He missed a meeting. Players miss them all the time. You fine them and move on. You don't trade him. We'd only consider trading Ron if we got back another All-Star in return."

    Jonathan Bender's name also has made the rounds, but the Pacers sound determined to keep him around. Austin Croshere, as always, is available via trade, but so far few people are interested in eating his contract.

    What could Harrington or Artest land the Pacers? The talk about Shaq coming to Indy appears to be overblown. The Pacers would have to give up Jermaine O'Neal to get that done, and that's something they're unwilling to do.


    Jason Terry
    Point Guard
    Atlanta Hawks
    Profile


    2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
    GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
    81 16.8 4.1 5.4 .417 .827
    More realistically, a trade for a player like Dampier, the Sonics' Ray Allen or the Hawk's Jason Terry is more realistic. Dampier started his career in Indiana but appears to be leaning toward Memphis.

    Allen would address their need for a young, dominant shooter in the backcourt. But at what price? Trading for Allen would cost the Pacers two or three of their players.

    Terry has wanted out of Atlanta ever since he solicited an offer sheet from the Jazz this time last year. Terry would be a great fit in the Pacers' backcourt, and an offer of Harrington and Tinsley for Terry probably could get something done.

    COACHING: Rick Carlisle did a great job in Indiana last season. He instilled a sense of team discipline and purpose, and after a rocky transition period, the team seemed to really respond to his direction. Carlisle was hand-picked by Larry Bird and has a really long leash. In a world where coaches normally expire shortly after the press conference announcing their hire, Carlisle's job appears to be very safe.


    Bird
    FRONT OFFICE: Last season was the first for Larry Bird, and this year he's taking on more of the responsibilities Walsh has handled in the past. It may seem odd reading this, but Bird has some enormous shoes to fill.

    Walsh is a legendary GM -- the Larry Bird of GMs, if you will. He is savvy, has a great eye for talent and a winning track record. Just about everyone in the NBA loves and respects him. Bird might be one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but he still has a long way to go to catch up with Walsh in the front office.

    The Pacers aren't at a crossroads yet -- the team is still young and talented. But Bird believes, rightly, the team needs a few tweaks to turn it into a true title contender. Will he have the patience and long-term vision of Walsh, or will he be more reactionary and willing to sell out long term goals for short term gains?

    Chad Ford covers the NBA for ESPN Insider.

  • #2
    Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

    imagine that, one quote from Donnie and writing a full page about it AND getting paid in the process"!!!"
    So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

    If you've done 6 impossible things today?
    Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

      He puts it well I think. It's nothing special to us because we're the die-hards that know this stuff already and talk about it to death. I think it's pretty good for people that don't discuss it like we do.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

        Man I hope they dont trade for Terry. We dont need a new pg we need a new sg!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

          After all that hype and wait... the only interesting thing that we didn't necessarily know was that mangement might be interested in upgrading both backcourt positions.

          I've been assuming - perhaps incorrectly - that Tinsley's job was safe heading into next season.
          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


          • #6
            Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

            the problem is that he is doing this for every team in the NBA. He could never do an in depth article for each and every team.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

              I wouldn't mind a new backcourt of Terry/Jackson instead of Tinsley/Miller. I like the idea of having more scoring from both positions, and better defense from SG and no worse from PG, but at least Terry's quick enough to keep with the quick PGs that have killed us. He's an OK passer, I think it would work out fine.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                Originally posted by btowncolt
                Originally posted by Ragnar
                the problem is that he is doing this for every team in the NBA. He could never do an in depth article for each and every team.

                Heaven forbid he do what he's paid to do.

                yeah and some more


                I do not believe we are looking to upgrade both back court positions, read my comments on the thread about I believe Damp, their stats are almost equal, in actual fact Tins' are better, he just shoots less shots then Terry, and does it all in 2/3 of the time Terry uses on the court.

                It "might" be that Terry CAN be a better defender, but let's face it, he hasn't shown that lately and Tins' improvement in that department are impressive to say the least, add to that the fact that Terry is in this league 2 more years then Tins and in all it would be a bad trade even if we traded them head to head, let alone if we have to add to the package anything else then an ultimate bad contract.

                I do read Donnie's words though, in Walsh speak I think he says, we're trading Ron as part of a package for Ray Allen or Paul Pierce (the latter most likely since now both have been declared "non trading pieces) the Kiss of TradeU is upon them




                So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                  Tins is very underrated. That's all I have to say.
                  Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                    Keep in mind Tinsley didn't "show us" his Defense until this coaching staff showed up. They could probably do similar things with Terry, and in college Terry was supposed to be known for defense.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                      Originally posted by Hicks
                      I wouldn't mind a new backcourt of Terry/Jackson instead of Tinsley/Miller.....
                      That Terry/Jackson combo was just swell for the Hawks......


                      PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                        Originally posted by MagicRat
                        Originally posted by Hicks
                        I wouldn't mind a new backcourt of Terry/Jackson instead of Tinsley/Miller.....
                        That Terry/Jackson combo was just swell for the Hawks......


                        I was thinking the same thing.

                        ed:

                        I'd rather trade for Shareef and Alan Henderson to be my new starting forwards.
                        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


                        • #13
                          Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                          I think some of you will complain about anything and everything. I enjoyed the article, thought it provided some insight.

                          Just because he does not know everything that we all know about the Pacers, does not mean the article is useless. He has wirteen a similar article for all 29 teams, he can't know every team as wwell as we know the Pacers.


                          Good to read they won't trade Ron unless they get an allstar


                          Wan't the rumor AL, Jamaal for Terry floated last summer?

                          .

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                            Originally posted by MagicRat
                            Originally posted by Hicks
                            I wouldn't mind a new backcourt of Terry/Jackson instead of Tinsley/Miller.....
                            That Terry/Jackson combo was just swell for the Hawks......

                            We aren't the Hawks. We have Artest/O'Neal/Foster to join them, not Atlanta's crap.

                            We're pairing them w/ two of the top forwards in the league.
                            [edit=12=1089230310][/edit]

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Pacers Blue Print from Insider

                              Originally posted by Hicks
                              Originally posted by MagicRat
                              Originally posted by Hicks
                              I wouldn't mind a new backcourt of Terry/Jackson instead of Tinsley/Miller.....
                              That Terry/Jackson combo was just swell for the Hawks......

                              We aren't the Hawks. We have Artest/O'Neal/Foster to join them, not Atlanta's crap.
                              Shareef and Theo have both been all-stars...


                              PSN: MRat731 XBL: MRat0731

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X