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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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2004-02-11 - [Not much in here today]

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  • 2004-02-11 - [Not much in here today]

    Defense has been Sonics' undoing
    By Terry Brown
    NBA Insider
    Wednesday, February 11
    Updated: February 11
    2:31 PM ET

    The Seattle SuperSonics have found the enemy and the enemy is, well,
    them.

    "In practice, we're knocking each other all over the place," said
    guard Antonio Daniels in the Tacoma News Tribune. "We're killing
    each other, fouling each other, being very aggressive with each
    other: grabbing, throwing, everything. And then when the game comes
    around, we're almost lighter on the other team than we are against
    ourselves. We have to trust each other. When (Flip Murray) gets
    beat, he needs to know I'm there, and I want (Ray) Allen to know I'm
    there if he gets beat. We have to do that collectively as a team,
    and it's something we're not doing."

    After Tuesday night's loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Sonics
    have now dropped seven of their last nine games despite scoring 98.8
    points per game in that span. And that's because they're allowing
    the other team to score 104.4 points per game.

    "We've shown at times that we can defend, but it can't be 'at
    times,' " head coach Nate McMillan said in the Seattle Times. "We
    didn't have control of any part of this game. They (Golden State)
    ran their sets, walking us to the post, walking us to the wing and
    allowing the screen to come over right where they wanted. At times
    we allowed them to go deeper. They walked us to wherever they wanted
    to offensively."

    In those nine games, the Sonics have given up 940 points. To put
    that in perspective, the worst defensive team in the league gives up
    an average of 100.6, and that's the Orlando Magic, who have the
    worst record in the league at 13-40. But another week like this and
    Seattle won't be too far off from claiming that title with its 24-27
    record. Currently, the Sonics give up 99.3 points per game for third
    worst in the league with the Mavericks at 99.9 for second.

    "We're not organized on defense," said center Vitaly Potapenko.

    "We're not disciplined. It's as simple as that. Everybody knows
    we're a shooting team and we can score on offense, but the defensive
    end is what makes the difference between winning a game and losing a
    game."

    “We've been up and down this season, and when we've been down
    I think most of those downs have been because we haven't
    defended the ball. ”
    — Nate McMillan

    And, now, everybody knows that when the Sonics are on the schedule,
    it's time to boost their statistics.

    Golden State was putting up about 94 points a game on the season and
    only 90.3 on the road. On Tuesday night, the Warriors scored 106 in
    Seattle. And what makes it worse is that the last time these teams
    played on Jan. 22, the Sonics held them to 87 points and won by 16.

    "It's a bad loss," Daniels said. "But you can't look at it like, 'Is
    this a low point?' because we play again on Thursday."
    Well, what happened last Thursday or last Tuesday or the Tuesday
    before that?

    That's when this whole streak started with a 118-116 loss to the
    Mavericks in Seattle. Sure, the Mavs can score a lot of points, but
    on the road even they average 99.5, which is nowhere close to 118.
    The Sonics also gave up 110 points to Sacramento that week, also in
    Seattle, and then 117 to the Kings in Arco Arena the next week.
    In between, they did beat the Bulls but still surrendered 97 points
    to a team that scores only 89.4 a game. In their only other win
    during this streak, they gave up 105 points to the Suns, who score
    only 93.4 a game.

    "You've got to defend, and you've got to take care of the ball,"
    said McMillan in the Tribune. "You've got to commit to defending if
    you want a shot at winning games. We've been up and down this
    season, and when we've been down I think most of those downs have
    been because we haven't defended the ball."

    In all, the Sonics have given up 940 points to nine teams that
    average 869.7. That's 70.3 more points than usual. That's 7.8 points
    per game during this streak. That's got to be impossibly frustrating
    for a team that just lost seven of nine games by an average of 5.6
    points.

    In their 24 wins this year, the Sonics have given up an average of
    94.6 points per game. In their 27 losses, they've given up 103.5.
    "We've just got to be better defensively is what it comes around
    to," Daniels said. "That's it, plain and simple; if we want to be
    successful, if we want to make the playoffs, if we want to win the
    games we should win. When March comes around and we go to San
    Antonio and Dallas and Los Angeles and Houston, we want to make sure
    that we're at a defensive level where we should be, playing playoff
    basketball by that time."
    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


  • #2
    Peep Show

    Peep Show
    By Chad Ford
    NBA Insider
    Send an Email to Chad Ford Wednesday, February 11
    Updated: February 11
    9:52 AM ET

    Washington Wizards: One of the most dangerous places to be these
    days could very well be in a Wizard uniform after Larry Hughes was
    declared injured for the next four to six weeks with a broken left
    wrist. "It's very disappointing," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said in
    the Washington Times. "He was playing well. He was taking a lot of
    hits. When we got Gilbert back and Stack back it seemed like Larry
    was flourishing with those two guys on the court. The game was
    coming much easier to him, and he looked very comfortable on the
    floor."

    Orlando Magic: Grant Hill has reached the do or die phase of his
    NBA career with rehab just about complete following his fourth
    surgery to his ankle and a decision needed on when and if he should
    return to the floor. "I haven't focused too much on the past -- good
    or bad -- because I'm just pressing on," Hill said in Florida Today.
    "Call me crazy, but I still feel I've got some good ball left in me.
    It's just a (fractured) bone and not a joint or something
    life-threatening. If the bone can heal and just stay healed, then
    I'm a 31-year-old who hasn't played a lot in the past four years. I
    can still go be productive. That's what led me to have this last set
    of surgeries. I think last season showed me that if this ankle feels
    good, I can still go play at a high level."

    Los Angeles Lakers: Of course, Phil Jackson wants Kobe Bryant back
    on the floor, so long as it's for the Lakers before the Western
    Conference All-Stars. "He says he'll play (tonight)," Jackson said
    in the L.A. Daily News. "If he can stand the discomfort, he can
    play. There's nothing else we have to worry about. I think he should
    play if at all possible before the All-Star Game, if he wants to
    play in the All-Star Game. There's ample reason for him not to even
    play in the All-Star Game if he wanted to sit it out. Having not
    played in these last few games, I'm sure there's enough concern. But
    I'm sure he wants to play."

    Detroit Pistons: Larry Brown doesn't worry these days until his team
    has the lead. "We completely forget how we got the lead in the first
    place," coach Larry Brown said in the Detroit News after the Pistons
    gave up a 14-point lead to lose to the Nets Tuesday night. "We have
    no clue how to finish, no clue how to manage a clock. We need to be
    responsible enough to handle those situations. They shared the ball,
    the penetrated and got easy baskets. Who gets us easy baskets? We
    don't get easy baskets. We don't create turnovers and we don't have
    anybody right now that will penetrate and kick. You can't catch up
    with one shot, and that's our mentality."

    Philadelphia 76ers: Allen Iverson, apparently, doesn't like
    surprises. "Being here as long as I've been here, yeah, I definitely
    feel like someone should have said something to me," Iverson said in
    the Philadelphia Inquirer. "But I feel like I'm supposed to be
    involved with a lot of stuff, like trade talks, even if I'm
    involved. Let me know. I think I've earned the right just to know
    some of the things that are going on. For me to get awakened by a
    phone call from somebody who's not even in the organization to tell
    me that the head coach has been fired... it was a shock to me."
    Portland Trail Blazers: Rasheed Wallace was, at least, beloved of
    his teammates. "Rasheed is a great player," Dale Davis said in the
    Oregonian. "He's just a super guy to be around, a super guy to play
    with. He's the type of guy that has your back at all times . . .
    probably one of the most unselfish guys that I've ever played with .
    . . probably one of the most underrated defenders around. He comes
    to work every day. A lot of people don't realize that. He'll
    definitely be missed."

    Hughes sidelined at least four weeks
    John N. Mitchell / Washington Times
    Magic debating Hill's return
    John Denton / Florida Today
    Bryant to return to lineup tonight
    Howard Beck / Los Angeles Daily News
    Brown questions Pistons' intensity
    Chris McCosky / Detroit News
    Iverson, clearly irked, asks for greater role
    Ashley McGeachy Fox / Philadelphia Inquirer
    Blazers describe 'empty' feelings after trade
    Jim Beseda / The Oregonian
    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

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