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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.

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

Rule #1

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

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

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

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

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

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #2

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

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

The right places to do so are:

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

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

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

Rule #3

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #4

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

Rule #5

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

An example:

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

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

Rule #6

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

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

Rule #7

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

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

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

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

Rule #8

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

Rule #9

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

Rule #10

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

Rule #11

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

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  • Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

    Offseason Workouts Often
    a Hidden Key to Success


    By John Clayton | September 2, 2004
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Except for an occasional transaction, the NBA is mostly quiet these days. No games. No summer leagues. But this is when Pacers Strength and Conditioning Coach Bill Dean earns his paycheck – and then some.
    He is available to players who have remained or return to Indianapolis during the offseason. He also has made several trips to visit players who are spending their offseasons in other cities, including Jonathan Bender in New Orleans, Austin Croshere and Reggie Miller in Los Angeles, and Fred Jones in Portland, OR.

    “The summertime is when you can make dramatic improvements and changes in your body,” said Dean. “It’s very difficult to do it in-season with the schedule that we keep.”

    Dean’s offseason programs are conformed to the needs of individual players with an eye ever on the NBA’s nine-month, 82-game regular season. The goal is, of course, fitness, but with that goal is the ability to survive a long season in the physical professional game.

    “Every guy has a different goal and we have different goals for every guy, probably, under the umbrella of come in fit, come in strong, come in flexible and come in at a decent body weight with a good percentage of body fat,” said Dean. “I would love to say that we’re here to make guys perform better, but the reality is playing 100 games, when you get into preseason and postseason, the guys who can stay healthy are the guys who excel. The vast majority of it is injury prevention. The nice thing about that is it goes hand in hand with becoming a better athlete, becoming stronger and becoming more fit.”

    Minutes earlier, Dean had been working with centers Jeff Foster, Scot Pollard and rookie David Harrison in an impromptu Pacers “big man’s” camp at Conseco Fieldhouse. The workout left all three players doused in sweat and included weightlifting, cardio and shooting.

    The goal for Pollard and Foster was to maintain the level of fitness they have routinely achieved as professional athletes. The goal for Harrison continues to be enlightenment.

    “No matter how much you think you know, you don’t know anything when you come in as a rookie. That’s not a knock on him – or any of the rookies. It’s just a different game from any level they’ve played on in college,” Dean said. “A large part of what we’re trying to do with David is educate him as to how big everybody is, how strong everybody is and how fit everybody is.

    “I’ll bet he was the biggest, probably the heaviest and the tallest player in the Big 12 all three of his years, but he’s going to be just another guy here. There are a lot of 7-footers in this league and a lot of guys at his weight, so from my standpoint with him, it’s an education process. You’re not going to just knock guys out of the way and shoot layups all the time. I’m trying to educate him that this is an everyday proposition. It’s not just when you feel like it. There’s going to be tons of days when you don’t feel like it.”

    Dean said Harrison has been a good pupil so far, working diligently to become ready for his first NBA campaign.

    For his part, Harrison has been relieved to no longer have to split his workout time between practices and classes at Colorado.

    “My weight routine I do here is strenuous, but it’s made more for endurance than strength,” Harrison said. “Basically, what they’re telling me is I need to get my core more stable and stronger because I already have the power aspects. It decreases on back problems and knee problems and it goes down from there. I do my core workout every day and an intense one every other day. That’s my worst day. I dread coming in on that day.”

    Harrison also said he can feel a difference as the season draws nearer.

    “I feel like I can go longer and longer out there every day,” he said. “It’s a process, but I’m leaps and bounds above where I was when I came in here after draft day. But I’ve still got a far way to go.”

    While Harrison becomes increasingly acclimated to a new way of conditioning, other players, including Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Jones and Bender are both conditioning and rehabilitating injuries that occurred last season.

    O’Neal: O’Neal has worked to return to form after injuring his left knee in the Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit. Dean said O’Neal has been working out in Los Angeles, Portland and Atlanta.

    “All reports that I hear are that he’s doing just fine,” said Dean, who has not worked personally with the Pacers All-Star forward this summer. “I know he’s working hard, even though I haven’t seen him myself. I think the summer off from playing in the Olympics, which was a mandatory thing – I don’t think he could have done it with how bad that knee was at the end of the season, I think the rest coupled with the hard work is going to set him up to come into camp feeling great.”

    O’Neal, who had played three straight summers of International competition with USA Basketball, eschewed a slot on the Olympic Team to heal after injuring the knee against Detroit.

    Bender: Questions surrounding Bender’s durability have swirled since a more slender version of the athletic 7-footer arrived with the Pacers out of Picayune (MS) Memorial High School in 2000.

    Though he has bulked up as a professional, due in large part to the effort of Dean and the Pacers training staff, last season did little to stop the concerns about his ability to stand the test of the regular season. Bender missed 61 games after undergoing left knee surgery during the 2003 preseason.

    This summer, he has reunited with trainer Mackie Shilstone, with whom Bender worked prior to his rookie season.

    “Mackie has talked extensively with me and our other physical trainers, staff and physical therapists,” said Dean. “We tried to put together a real well-rounded program to work on the left side of Jonathan’s body and his core strength as well as his conditioning. It’s been going great. The knee is getting more and more stable and his core strength has improved, which helps the stability of all the rest of the limbs.

    “We hope after another solid month of training that he comes in ready to fight for those minutes that are being vacated because (of the trade of Al Harrington to Atlanta.)”

    Jones: Recently cleared to resume workouts after shoulder surgery, Jones is back in the program and working with a trainer in Oregon after a 12-week layoff.

    “His major emphasis has to be on getting back in shape,” said Dean. “The basketball will come, but right now he’s a better basketball player than a conditioned athlete. To take 12 weeks off after surgery is a long time to take off, especially in the middle of an offseason when a lot of guys are gearing up.”

    With the addition of Stephen Jackson in the Harrington trade, playing time at the shooting guard position could be tougher to come by for Jones, but Dean said he believes Jones will do what it takes to keep a spot in Coach Rick Carlisle’s rotation.

    ”He understands the opportunity that presents itself this season,” said Dean. “He got a taste of it last year and he liked the taste that he got. Now, he wants to build on that. He doesn’t want to take a step back. . . . If he needed any motivation, I think the 12 weeks of being forced to sit around helped to fire him up to get back in the gym.”

    Tinsley: The offseason regimen imposed last season on Tinsley seems to have taken hold and perpetuated itself this summer as he has worked in Atlanta with Anthony Johnson and here with Dean. Last summer, Tinsley shed about 25 pounds of unwanted weight that slowed him in 2002-03. This summer, he kept it off.

    “He looks very good,” Dean said. “I don’t think (weight) is a factor for him anymore. He showed that was a blip on the radar and it’s really not a factor anymore.”

    Miller and Croshere: Both players have reportedly spent a lot of time working together near Los Angeles, shooting together twice a day with weightlifting on their own in between shooting sessions.

    The seemingly ageless Miller’s workout regimen has been legendary and one reason he will return for a 19th NBA season with the Pacers.

    After being used little in 2002-03, Croshere appeared in 77 games last season and made a surprise start in the playoffs in an attempt to help spread the Pistons’ tough interior defense. Croshere knows first-hand about the intense competition for playing time for the deep and talented Pacers, something Dean said serves as a catalyst for offseason workout participation.

    “It’s a big help for me because it keeps guys wanting to see me, wanting to get together in the summer and wanting to follow the program and make sure they come in fit,” Dean said.
    Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

  • #2
    Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

    I'm glad to see Bender back with his rookie season trainer, because if I remember correctly he added a ton of weight just before the draft.

    If Bender gets to about 230-240 that'd be awesome. (And a miracle)
    You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

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    • #3
      Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

      He was amazingly skinny his first year. Amazingly.

      Bender, more than any other recent HS-to-pro player, hadn't even started growing into his body when he got to the NBA.

      I'm not sure I'd want him at 240, though. That's similar to JO. If he's going to play both forward positions, a well-proportioned 230 should be plenty.
      This space for rent.

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      • #4
        Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

        But If Bender will ever start, it will be a center, because he won't ever beat out artest, but I really like him. I likes his style, and I always like how he's not overy showy and arrogant like a lot of players. He's a timid kinda guy.

        So im of coursing rooting for bender to be like 260 if it could happen.
        You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

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        • #5
          Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

          I can't imagine a world where I'd take Bender at center over Jermaine. I can imagine a future lineup of Bender at 4 and Jermaine at 5, but for now I think his best bet is to try to take all of the backup minutes at the 3 and 4 spot. If Croshere takes all of his minutes at the 5, Reggie takes all of his backing up S.Jax, and Freddy starts competing for AJ's minutes, this team could really be rocking by the All-Star break.
          This space for rent.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

            Originally posted by PacerMan
            Originally posted by Anthem
            Bender, more than any other recent HS-to-pro player, hadn't even started growing into his body when he got to the NBA.

            .
            Which is why comparing him to other high schoolers SO FAR is pointless. Yes it took him longer to mature physically. Sucked for us. Doesn't mean he can't still be as good as anyone.
            I agree.

            You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Pacers.com Offseason workouts article

              opens the betting pool , to see gueses on how long it is before benders first injury of the season

              I honestly have my doubts if Bender can play signifgant mins on a constant basis without getting hurt , I think he wear's cinderella's glass slipper sometimes
              Broadcasting Classic Rock Hits 24/7 SauceMaster Radio!!!!

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