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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Insider Request

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  • Insider Request

    State of the Boilermakers

    Thanks!

  • #2
    Re: Insider Request

    CBB Summer Buzz: Purdue
    By Elena Bergeron
    ESPN The Magazine

    Purdue Boilermakers
    2009-10: 29-6 (NCAA tournament-- Sweet 16)

    They'd been pushing their stay in the tournament a little longer each of the previous two seasons and finally had a team full of Indiana natives that projected as a contender in an Indiana-located Final Four for 2009-10. But after do-everything forward Robbie Hummel tore his ACL in the Big Ten stretch run, the Boilermakers watched as in-state neighbor Butler got to live out what was supposed to be their dream season. "It was tough for guys because it was like if Rob wouldn't have gotten hurt, that would've been our story," says junior guard Lewis Jackson, who rushed back from a broken foot to help the Boilermakers compete last season.


    ---
    Jay Bilas
    Purdue's rebuilding under Matt Painter progressed way ahead of schedule. The Boilermakers cracked the Sweet 16 two seasons in a row, and did so despite injuries. Purdue has a great program again, not just a great team. Purdue has a chance to have a special season, and if the Boilers stay healthy, this could be a Final Four year.

    Few teams can boast a trio like Robbie Hummel, E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. The difference makers, however, will be the supporting cast. Every year, Purdue has gotten better under Painter. The Boilers are solid defensively, well drilled on the offensive end and play as hard together as any team. A lot of teams play hard. Purdue plays hard together. The question is, can Purdue win the battles on the glass that require physical toughness?

    Purdue lost Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant, who brought experience and toughness, and that has to be matched by a returnee. I think a real key will be the maturation of Kelsey Barlow. A member of last season's All-Freshman team in the Big Ten, Barlow has size, toughness and a physicality that can be a major boost for Purdue.


    Joe Lunardi
    The temptation is to slot Purdue right behind Duke in next season's pecking order. After all, the Boilermakers were a legitimate Final Four threat when Robbie Hummel went out last February. The Boilers made it to the Sweet 16 without him and now he returns alongside fellow seniors E'Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson. That should be more than enough, right?

    But suppose Hummel isn't 100 percent following ACL surgery. Or a lack of depth beyond the big three leaves the Boilers a step behind the other Big Ten heavyweights, Michigan State and Ohio State. Most worrisome of all is that the graduation of Chris Kramer -- the ultimate "glue" guy -- turns Purdue into a unit in which the whole isn't equal to the sum of the parts.

    I have a hard time believing every one of these questions gets a positive answer. Injuries and team chemistry have a way of being fickle. Will the Boilers be very good again? Absolutely. But I do not see them cutting down the nets in Houston.


    Doug Gottlieb
    While Purdue returns the vast majority of the talent that has revitalized this proud program, the loss of Chris Kramer is one that is difficult to quantify based on his points per game. His toughness at both ends and willingess to sacrifice himself made him a perfect complement to the talents of JaJuan Johnson, Robbie Hummel and E'Twaun Moore.

    When Purdue went through a three-game losing streak midseason last year, many around the team thought that Johnson had mentally checked out a bit, and when they got him going again, the Boilers were back. Lewis Jackson, John Hart and possibly newcomers Terone Johnson and Anthony Johnson (no relation but both are very well regarded) need to provide some 3-point accuracy, as the Boilers only shot 31 percent as a team last season.

    With the scoring of Moore, Johnson, Hummel and a bevy of talented young guards, Purdue will be right in the mix in the deep and experienced Big Ten. But the loss of Kramer and Keaton Grant to graduation, the at times up and down nature of Johnson, and Hummel coming off a late season ACL injury should give us just a moment of pause in anointing Purdue a Final Four favorite.
    ---

    Without Hummel, Purdue went 6-2 and fell to eventual champ Duke in the Sweet 16, lacking the offensive diversity to push further. Sure the Boilermakers missed the 6-foot-8 Hummel's dogged rebounding, but losing his inside-out scoring (15.7 ppg on 36.4 percent 3-point shooting and 45.5 percent shooting overall) helped drag the team's 114.3 adjusted efficiency (a top-25 rating) down to 108.3 (70th in the country) in the eight games he missed.

    With the core of returning seniors back -- Hummel reteams with JaJuan Johnson and leading scorer E'Twaun Moore, who both nixed NBA draft plans -- Purdue is the only BCS team to return three all-league selections. The goal, however, is still the same as when the trio emerged as Baby Boilers: competing for a title. "Seeing Butler do it made us even more hungry," says Jackson. "This year, we want to get to that stage regardless of whether it's in Houston or Hawaii or wherever because we've seen the dream that Butler got to live."

    That'll take a little luck and contributions from more than just the big three.

    Welcome to Campus
    Terone Johnson, 6-2, SG
    The veteran team has a solid number of minutes to give out now that Chris Kramer and Keaton Grant have graduated. Johnson, the prototypical Purdue recruit, should be the first youngster to fight his way onto the court. He's always been a well-rounded contributor, averaging 21.5 ppg on 51 percent shooting, 4.4 rpg and 3.9 apg for Indianapolis' North Central (Eric Gordon's high school), but the big-bodied guard (190 pounds) can also defend in the backcourt and on the wing. "All our guards will be fighting for minutes," says Hummel. "But Terone has stepped it up on D in open gym."

    Anthony Johnson, 6-2, SG
    More of a slashing guard, Johnson fell out of the top 100 rankings because of an ankle injury his junior year. A rare Chicago CPL signee, he can be a volume scorer who can get hot from 3, but his role on this season's team will depend on his ability to play passing lanes when Moore is on the bench. Johnson played AAU ball with freshman forwards Donnie Hale and Travis Carroll.

    Hole to Fill: Defensive stopper
    If last season's buzz was how to plug up the Hummel-sized gap in the frontcourt, this season's will be how to replace two-time Big Ten defensive POY Kramer. The 6-3 guard masochistically relished the job of shutting down the other team's best player, no matter what position that guy played. And when Hummel went down, it was the undersized Kramer who battled at the 4.

    Don't think coach Matt Painter's team will suffer a defensive drop-off. Even with Kramer playing some post, Purdue's adjusted defensive efficiency never dropped below third in the nation thanks to Painter's insistence on pressuring the ball and willingness to send five players to crash the boards instead of two or three. With the 6-10 JaJuan Johnson's 4.1 blocks per game lurking in the paint, look for a combination of Kelsey Barlow, Terone Johnson and Patrick Bade to take it to opponents' scorers.

    New Role: Kelsey Barlow
    Last year, the 6-5 Barlow earned spot starts and wound up as Painter's first guy off the bench thanks to his ball-hawking skills and willingness to guard four spots on the court. So far, he's the favorite to win the vacant starter's spot, but Barlow's decision-making with the ball in his hands is suspect, and he'll have to find a way to contribute more offensively (3.4 ppg, 1.6 apg) and not be an end-of-game liability at the free throw line (44.6 percent) if he doesn't want to get booted by Johnson or D.J. Byrd.

    [+] Enlarge
    AP Photo/Michael Conroy
    How well Hummel bounces back from injury will dictate Purdue's future.
    Summer School
    Jackson and Hummel were the only two Boilermakers in classes since May -- Purdue student-athletes have to be enrolled in at least one class to have their summer rent covered -- in order to spend the full summer rehabbing. Jackson says his foot (which was operated on last season) is back to about 90 percent and he's been cleared for full-court play. The pass-first, tempo-pushing guard has used the time to rework his jumper. "I'm breaking down the fundamentals of it. Once I got hurt, I lost my legs and tried to change my shot to adjust to that. It's been just working on keeping my legs under me when I shoot and getting my confidence back. I'm not going to take a huge number of [shots] in games, but I do know that I have to be able to hit them when I'm open." Jackson's never been a huge scorer (5.9 ppg in 08-09 vs. 2.4 ppg in 09-10) but he used to be 44.5 percent on his occasional attempts from 3 and went just 1-for-11 last season.

    For his part, Hummel just got cleared for agility drills, after having spent the summer working to strengthen the muscles in his right leg and hitting the weight room. "I've heard that August is probably going to be when I get cleared to play, but I haven't been given a set date," he says. Most of his teammates have been back on campus since June 15, except for JaJuan Johnson, who spent part of July training with the USA national team in Las Vegas. "He told us he got to guard Kevin Durant, Rudy Gay, Lamar Odom. I think that was the part he was most excited about," Hummel says.

    Elena Bergeron is a staff writer for ESPN The Magazine.

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