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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"

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"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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Can we win a Title?

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  • #46
    Re: Can we win a Title?

    Originally posted by eldubious View Post
    No, this team really needed to swing for the fences. That means offering a max contract to Gordon
    "Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel

    "And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "

    Comment


    • #47
      Re: Can we win a Title?

      Originally posted by Young View Post
      Others might disagree with me but I thought then and I still believe it now that the Pacers should have won the championship in 2004 and 2005. At the very least the talent was there.

      03-04:
      PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Kenny Anderson
      SG: Reggie Miller/Fred Jones
      SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender
      PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Al Harrington/Austin Croshere
      C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard

      04-05:
      PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Eddie Gill
      SG: Reggie Miller/Stephen/Jackson/Fred Jones
      SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender/James Jones/Michael Curry
      PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Austin Croshere
      C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard/David Harrison/Dale Davis

      I know I am leaving other guys off from the 04-05 squad but they don't really matter.

      My first thought after seeing these rosters is that these were DEEP teams. The Pacers from this past year were known as deep but I don't think they compare to these two teams.

      Do you believe that the team the Pacers currently has is on par, talent-wise, with the teams in 03-04/04-05? I think this Pacers team has the potential to be similar. Of course it depends on guys improving but I don't think it depends on say Paul George becoming the Orlando Magic version of Tracy McGrady. The players do need to improve. The other factors in this will be the fit. The players on those two Pacers teams complemented each other well. Sure there were some weaknesses but overall they played well together. I think that last season was a season for this current Pacers team to find there way so to speak...to really develop some chemistry that will pay off this season.

      Do I think this current Pacer team can win a championship? Yes, I do. As of right now would I predict them to? No. Keep this in mind though. That Pacer squad in 03-04 that won a league best 61 games (and if I remember correctly didn't lose more than once before they won again) just lost Brad Miller who was an all-star in 2003. Who thought the Pacers would go on to win 61 games after that? I wouldn't count out this Pacers squad to surprise some people this year either.
      You really, really had to go and bring those teams up? Really?
      The Most Common Cause of Stress is Dealing with Idiots

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: Can we win a Title?

        Right now, no. But we can win the Central, and work it out from there from a favorable position with home court for a couple series.

        If we get Scola, instead, I may start hoping for something better...

        Comment


        • #49
          Re: Can we win a Title?

          The ceiling for this group if we stay healthy and the Miami Heat stay healthy is IMO the ECF... If the Heat lose 1 of the Big 3 (wade), we will have a shot at NBA Finals...

          However, if we can win an amnesty bid on a backup big (brand, scola), our depth can overcome the Heat... Reason being, they still have no answers at the 5 for Roy, and Bosh and Lebron can't hold down the frontcourt for 7 Games against a team with this much talent and depth at the 4 and 5... Just saying we've got a shot...

          Last season we were widely considered one of the deepest teams in the NBA even though, we all know our second team couldn't score vs Air... This second team, this year will have a punch to it and will clearly be a strength for this franchise!!!

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: Can we win a Title?

            Maybe not this upcoming season, but if we can keep a majority of our young core intact I think we can compete with the big dogs with 2-3 years of playing together with good continuity. I think if we can get focused and get used to playing with each other we could be the team no one wants to face in the post season. If we are to be competitive on the level of Miami and other super teams our veteran leadership will need to establish to our young players on what it takes to be a true professional.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: Can we win a Title?

              When we have someone who can rise up and take over a game then yes, we can win a championship. Until then, no.

              Is that guy on our roster?
              Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

              ------

              "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

              -John Wooden

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: Can we win a Title?

                Originally posted by Bball View Post
                When we have someone who can rise up and take over a game then yes, we can win a championship. Until then, no.

                Is that guy on our roster?
                If you are a team that relies only on 2 or 3 guys you need that, but we aren't playing by that model.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: Can we win a Title?

                  You never know what is gonna happen, so I will say Yes, we can win!

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: Can we win a Title?

                    of course we can, we have a solid team who is a tough opponent for anybody.. not likely but hey if you get hot in the playoffs you never know what could happen

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: Can we win a Title?

                      no.

                      unfortunately a team whose best player is granger won't take the title. you need at least a star player to win it all (i know detroit was an exception)

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: Can we win a Title?

                        Yes, absolutely we can.

                        We proved last year that we can play with, and beat... ANYONE in this league.

                        We took our bruises in the 2nd half of the Miami series, and we will learn from it.

                        This team can absolutely compete for a championship. Will it be easy? No. Am I going to forecast we automatically get to the ECF's? No.

                        But I know that we CAN do it if we play smashmouth Pacers basketball.

                        I think the trades/signings help us tremendously towards our goal of competing for a championship. Our bench is much stronger now than 2 days ago.

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: Can we win a Title?

                          Originally posted by will567 View Post
                          No! We have also fallen behind others in the East. I cannot believe that we can stand pat and think we can have a repeat of last season. The luck we had last season cannot be duplicated (Howard less Orlando, a Chicago team with no plan if Rose got hurt, Horford out for Alt and Bosh being hurt). Philly, Alt. (addition of Williams and subtraction of Marvin and Joe), Nets, Chicago (drafting Teague adding Hinrich) Boston and New York are all better then the Pacers. Also Toronto, Washington and the Bucks all have made major moves to improve and should fight for the playoffs. I am not sure it is a given that we make the playoffs. I know that Darren is being dumped on by the local media but he started most of the season and we won a lot of games. Also he was playing on a team that early in the season was terrible at finishing off plays. I also hear that he lead breaks and shot a lot but as I remember guys were not running with him to help. I am not sold that Hill is a starting point guard and we signed a backup with a losing track record to back him up. We have taken a real step back this offseason that will be like the Murphy and Mike Dunleavy years. Roy will hurt us at some point during this next contract because he is way over paid and 40 million for Hill is just mind blowing. This is a borderline playoff team and we will continue to see that for years to come. I hope you are happy with that because that is all we are ever going to be. We have no upside!
                          Wow! You sure have a positive outlook.

                          I think we have a very small remote chance to win it all, but an enormous amount of things will have to go our way for that to happen, starting with George being more assertive and aggressive offensively, a good training camp for the whole team and everybody healthy in it and a good gameplan from the coach aka a good philosophy on how we are going to play, Augustin to mesh nicely into the team and our bench in general producing better during the playoffs and Vogel not subbing all of them in at the sametime like this past postseason against the Heat.

                          And maybe most importantly the team chemistry needs to be guarded, closely. IF our team wants to go somewhere our players will have to continue to be willing to work their tails off for each other, the coach, the front office and the fans.

                          I also believe their is also still a good possibility of players improving due to players reaching more of their potential, aswell as experience and maturity gained and getting a full training camp under their belt. I also like the vibe our team has. Very nice.

                          Even if not all of the above can be accomplished we should still be a playoff team, even with the other teams improving. This is a tough and talented team even if we don't have an "alpha dog".
                          Last edited by Mourning; 07-13-2012, 05:12 AM. Reason: dumb spelling error
                          2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                          2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                          2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: Can we win a Title?

                            Continuity teams that don't make huge splashes in the offseason are always underrated. Good to see us fit into the mold. I agree with Mourning's assessment.

                            Comment


                            • #59
                              Re: Can we win a Title?

                              Originally posted by Young View Post
                              Others might disagree with me but I thought then and I still believe it now that the Pacers should have won the championship in 2004 and 2005. At the very least the talent was there.

                              03-04:
                              PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Kenny Anderson
                              SG: Reggie Miller/Fred Jones
                              SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender
                              PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Al Harrington/Austin Croshere
                              C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard

                              04-05:
                              PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Eddie Gill
                              SG: Reggie Miller/Stephen/Jackson/Fred Jones
                              SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender/James Jones/Michael Curry
                              PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Austin Croshere
                              C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard/David Harrison/Dale Davis

                              I know I am leaving other guys off from the 04-05 squad but they don't really matter.

                              My first thought after seeing these rosters is that these were DEEP teams. The Pacers from this past year were known as deep but I don't think they compare to these two teams.

                              Do you believe that the team the Pacers currently has is on par, talent-wise, with the teams in 03-04/04-05? I think this Pacers team has the potential to be similar. Of course it depends on guys improving but I don't think it depends on say Paul George becoming the Orlando Magic version of Tracy McGrady. The players do need to improve. The other factors in this will be the fit. The players on those two Pacers teams complemented each other well. Sure there were some weaknesses but overall they played well together. I think that last season was a season for this current Pacers team to find there way so to speak...to really develop some chemistry that will pay off this season.

                              Do I think this current Pacer team can win a championship? Yes, I do. As of right now would I predict them to? No. Keep this in mind though. That Pacer squad in 03-04 that won a league best 61 games (and if I remember correctly didn't lose more than once before they won again) just lost Brad Miller who was an all-star in 2003. Who thought the Pacers would go on to win 61 games after that? I wouldn't count out this Pacers squad to surprise some people this year either.
                              True. And let's also not forget that that team back then had some serious mentality and chemistry issues. That's something that's not holding back our current team.
                              2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                              2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                              2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

                              Comment


                              • #60
                                Re: Can we win a Title?

                                Originally posted by Young View Post
                                Others might disagree with me but I thought then and I still believe it now that the Pacers should have won the championship in 2004 and 2005. At the very least the talent was there.

                                03-04:
                                PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Kenny Anderson
                                SG: Reggie Miller/Fred Jones
                                SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender
                                PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Al Harrington/Austin Croshere
                                C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard

                                04-05:
                                PG: Jamaal Tinsley/Anthony Johnson/Eddie Gill
                                SG: Reggie Miller/Stephen/Jackson/Fred Jones
                                SF: Ron Artest/Jonathan Bender/James Jones/Michael Curry
                                PF: Jermaine O'Neal/Austin Croshere
                                C: Jeff Foster/Scot Pollard/David Harrison/Dale Davis

                                I know I am leaving other guys off from the 04-05 squad but they don't really matter.

                                My first thought after seeing these rosters is that these were DEEP teams. The Pacers from this past year were known as deep but I don't think they compare to these two teams.

                                Do you believe that the team the Pacers currently has is on par, talent-wise, with the teams in 03-04/04-05? I think this Pacers team has the potential to be similar. Of course it depends on guys improving but I don't think it depends on say Paul George becoming the Orlando Magic version of Tracy McGrady. The players do need to improve. The other factors in this will be the fit. The players on those two Pacers teams complemented each other well. Sure there were some weaknesses but overall they played well together. I think that last season was a season for this current Pacers team to find there way so to speak...to really develop some chemistry that will pay off this season.

                                Do I think this current Pacer team can win a championship? Yes, I do. As of right now would I predict them to? No. Keep this in mind though. That Pacer squad in 03-04 that won a league best 61 games (and if I remember correctly didn't lose more than once before they won again) just lost Brad Miller who was an all-star in 2003. Who thought the Pacers would go on to win 61 games after that? I wouldn't count out this Pacers squad to surprise some people this year either.
                                I don't think it's even close
                                Prime Artest (03-pre brawl) was one of the best small forwards this franchise ever had. He was something like a Deng that was able to score
                                Jermaine O'neal was probably the best big in the east, All-star, All-NBA type of guy (we have nothing close to that)
                                Reggie was probably the best clutch player in the NBA at that time

                                and most important, the East wasn't really stacked
                                Originally posted by Piston Prince
                                Bobcat fans telling us to cheer up = epic fail season
                                "Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"

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