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

Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 3
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 3 template Next
  • #1

    Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

    http://www.nba.com/2010/news/feature...medium=twitter

    Their inactivity this summer gave new meaning to the term "Naptown," the unflattering nickname slapped on Indianapolis and its lack of cosmopolitan nightlife.

    While the rest of the league was swept up in the free agent and trading whirlwind, remaking on the fly, the Pacers groggily rolled over, yawned and copped some Zs. It wasn't necessarily their choice to count sheep, but given the realities of their situation, what's a strapped salary-capped team supposed to do?

    It's a pretty boring existence, being in the Pacers' world. The franchise is still sweeping up the debris caused by the Malice at the Palace six years ago. Suffocated by a handful of long and expensive contracts which came as a result, the Pacers have been stuck in a holding pattern since the latter half of the decade. They're unwilling to deal with the luxury tax, mainly because it won't make them winners and justify the bottom line. Conseco Fieldhouse, easily the best arena in basketball, sadly lacks passion because the Pacers are trapped in neutral.

    And they must sit tight this upcoming season, refusing to add significant payroll while waiting for $38 million in bad contracts to vanish next summer.
    Doesn't this sound like what the Knicks just went through? Just substitute "Isiah Thomas" for the Malice and it is exactly the kind of life the Knicks led until they were finally awakened by free agency, which arrived like a cold shower. There's no fun in waiting with your nose pressed against the glass, watching others frolic toward a new season. It's almost like life is passing you by Danny Granger, the Pacers' only All-Star, must sacrifice another year in his prime for a team in transition. Larry Bird, the beleaguered general manager, is mostly handcuffed, unable to do anything until next summer, unwilling to go for the quick fix.

    Bird recently was non-committal about his future; his contract runs through next summer. His only goal is to improve the team for the next GM, or for himself if he sticks around. Jim O'Brien, the coach, has the backing of Bird but you wonder if he'll be the right coach for a remade team. So there's no promise of stability regarding the front office beyond this season.

    Making matters even murkier, the league's labor negotiations could throw a wrench into any grand plans the Pacers might have. And anyway, the summer of 2011 will hardly be a free-agent bonanza. Other than Carmelo Anthony -- and don't expect him to give Indy much thought -- the pickings are slim.

    So this is what it has come to, for the Pacers: Pray for steady development from the young players on the roster, wait for the six players on their roster (Mike Dunleavy Jr., T.J. Ford, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones, Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy) to come off the books next summer, hope to hit it big in next summer's Draft and try to add a piece or two through the trade market.
    Above all, ask a restless fan base for more patience.

    The Pacers need to stockpile assets, which won't happen unless two or three young players have a breakout season. Can Roy Hibbert overcome clumsiness to emerge as a defensive presence? Is Tyler Hansbrough the impact player he was at North Carolina, or is he a pick-setter in the NBA? When will A.J. Price heal from his unfortunate off-season injury, and is he a starting point guard in the NBA? Does Paul George, the first-round pick, need a few years of growth or can he make the All-Rookie team? Just the same, did the Pacers get a steal in Lance Stephenson, or do his past character issues make him a public relations risk?

    This is a star-driven league and until someone on the roster proves otherwise, the Pacers are made up of Granger, role players and bad contracts. Perhaps the one player who'll make a difference, who'll snap the franchise out of its lifeless slumber, isn't on the roster yet. And if that's the case, when does he arrive?
    Indianapolis isn't exactly a choice destination for an A-list free agent with options. The question, then: Is Bird the right man for the overhaul? Or do the Pacers thank him for his effort and find somebody else next July?
    His performance record is mixed, although to be fair, he was dealt a bad hand by mixed martial artists Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson, then by Jermaine O'Neal's massive contract. And once Donnie Walsh left for the Knicks and Bird went solo, his track record brightens.

    Whether it's Bird or someone else, the next moves made by the Pacers must awaken a sleepy franchise. Problem is, the hibernation must wait another 12 months. Or more.
    Naptown better grab a pillow and a blanket. This could take awhile
    .
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

    At least he gave us props for Conseco being "easily the best arena in basketball".

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

      I don't think we just sat by while all of the frenzy went on. TPTB at least want us to think they have been contacting every team with a PG they covet. IT is just that no one will give us deal that Bird is willing to take. Hopefully this will work oput next summer.
      This seems like what the Jailblazers went through in the early 2000's, but it is taking us a lot longer to come out of it.

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

        Sometimes sleeping off the hangover is the best option.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

          Pretty much the most correct and objective summary of the team's situation I've read.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

            quote-hope to hit it big in next summer's Draft.

            I hope we can get picks inreturn if we make some deals before the deadline. oklahoma hits it big every year in the draft. i want in on that action especially since next years draft looks to be more exciting then next years FA class.
            2012: Pacers return to glory

            Paul George All Day

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

              Originally posted by indyaway View Post
              Pretty much the most correct and objective summary of the team's situation I've read.
              I disagree completely. We've played very hard until the end of the season (i.e. didn't tank the season as other unscrupulous franchises) and drafted pretty good players (no top 10 picks until this year) who are developing well. Add last year's draft pick (Hans) and this year's crop of 3 athletic and versatile college players, we're very close to being very competitive. LB has done better than other franchises especially those franchises that have tanked their season for a top 5 draft pick and they still have losing records.

              Yes, we've had BAD luck with Dun-Dun getting injured which cost him 2 seasons nearly and Danny missing extend time last year and Hans losing nearly all of last year. If anything, I'd like to see a Small Market Analysis to determine how we stack up against other small market NBA teams.

              And, remember this, we didn't have the luxury of NOT having a player lose it (a few years ago) which cost his team to incur the most player suspensions in the history of the NBA. Nor, did we have the luxury of 2-3 former or current All-Star players deciding to play together on a big market teams like Boston or Miami or have a former Lakers GM trade his best player (Gasol) from his current team (Memphis) to his former team which enabled this current Laker team to win back-to-back NBA titles.

              If the owners grow a brain (because the Commish has NO common sense or toughness), they could ensure the next CBA includes a stipulation or clause that allows NBA teams to franchise their 'franchise players' (see NFL franchise rule) to prevent big market teams from getting a competitive advantage over the smaller market teams due to their sunny location or larger market audience or owner's deeper pockets (who get somewhat reimbursed from worldwide fans in their extremely large markets).
              Last edited by TooBigNdaPaint; 07-31-2010, 06:06 PM.

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                If a tree falls in a forest... er ... if trade calls are made but no trade comes of it, were the calls really made?

                Too many people confuse "no results" with "no effort".
                BillS

                A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                  Originally posted by Eleazar View Post
                  Sometimes sleeping off the hangover is the best option.
                  Right On... Making a move just to make a move is....... the reason Indiana is in the position it is in now.

                  I love the job Bird is doing thus far......

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                    Originally posted by TooBigNdaPaint View Post
                    I disagree completely. We've played very hard until the end of the season (i.e. didn't tank the season as other unscrupulous franchises) and drafted pretty good players (no top 10 picks until this year) who are developing well. Add last year's draft pick (Hans) and this year's crop of 3 athletic and versatile college players, we're very close to being very competitive. LB has done better than other franchises especially those franchises that have tanked their season for a top 5 draft pick and they still have losing records.

                    Yes, we've had BAD luck with Dun-Dun getting injured which cost him 2 seasons nearly and Danny missing extend time last year and Hans losing nearly all of last year. If anything, I'd like to see a Small Market Analysis to determine how we stack up against other small market NBA teams.

                    And, remember this, we didn't have the luxury of NOT having a player lose it (a few years ago) which cost his team to incur the most player suspensions in the history of the NBA. Nor, did we have the luxury of 2-3 former or current All-Star players deciding to play together on a big market teams like Boston or Miami or have a former Lakers GM trade his best player (Gasol) from his current team (Memphis) to his former team which enabled this current Laker team to win back-to-back NBA titles.

                    If the owners grow a brain (because the Commish has NO common sense or toughness), they could ensure the next CBA includes a stipulation or clause that allows NBA teams to franchise their 'franchise players' (see NFL franchise rule) to prevent big market teams from getting a competitive advantage over the smaller market teams due to their sunny location or larger market audience or owner's deeper pockets (who get somewhat reimbursed from worldwide fans in their extremely large markets).
                    Yes.... a franchise tag situation and a hard cap must happen or this league is "doomed"....

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                      Originally posted by TooBigNdaPaint View Post
                      If the owners grow a brain (because the Commish has NO common sense or toughness), they could ensure the next CBA includes a stipulation or clause that allows NBA teams to franchise their 'franchise players' (see NFL franchise rule) to prevent big market teams from getting a competitive advantage over the smaller market teams due to their sunny location or larger market audience or owner's deeper pockets (who get somewhat reimbursed from worldwide fans in their extremely large markets).
                      Or they could increase the benefits of re-signing with your current team over another. Bigger annual raises, some kind of signing bonus....something.

                      Or when they shrink the cap they can have the max contract be worth a LARGER percent of the total. Which would theoretically restrict the range of players that get a max contract and make it impractical for someone to acquire a Wade, Lebron, Bosh style lineup because they wouldn't have the room for Haslem and Miller.

                      If the max contract was worth a bigger % of the total cap, there would be player movement, but it would be different. The top players wouldn't be able to all sign with one team, instead they'd go to the teams that have that MAX room.

                      Of course, shorter contracts would also need to be in effect to protect the teams and the product...
                      "man, PG has been really good."

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                        What was so great about that spending frenzy? Miami obviously got its stars, but a lot of the teams that wrote those big checks are going to look very foolish over time. Some players were massively overpaid. I actually greatly prefer Bird's discipline.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                          Bird Is The Guy. He's A Winner. Always Has Been, Always Will Be. He Will Be Here For A While.

                          He's Been Hard Nosed And True To HIS Plan Which Is To Continue To Stock Assets In Order To Make This Team A Contender.

                          Our #1 Asset As Fans Is To Remain Patient And Watch The Bafoonery Thats Happening With These GM's Signing Bums Like Amir Johnson for $34Mil.

                          JOB Is A Different Story. He Will Get The Boot Early In The Season Lawrence Frank Style (Minus The 0-12 Record)

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                            Originally posted by pacers74 View Post

                            IT is just that no one will give us deal that Bird is willing to take.

                            Or is it no one wants the garbage Bird is peddling? I have no doubt the FO is trying to make deals, but if other teams don't want what is being offered NO deal comes to fruitition. There just may be some truth in Kahn's statement about the Pacers trying to peddle garbage to the T-Wolves.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Sleepy eyed Pacers wait for star to lead them

                              Originally posted by Justin Tyme View Post
                              Or is it no one wants the garbage Bird is peddling? I have no doubt the FO is trying to make deals, but if other teams don't want what is being offered NO deal comes to fruitition. There just may be some truth in Kahn's statement about the Pacers trying to peddle garbage to the T-Wolves.


                              Ya... Minny is loaded down with "assets"...

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 3 template Next
                              Working...
                              X