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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.

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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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Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

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  • #16
    Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

    Originally posted by ChicagoJ View Post
    The best thing about basketball, relative to hockey, soccer, and most other sports with a goal or net, is the absence of a goalie. If the NBA allows goaltending, I'll be done. That's a boring game - just have a big leaper play zone right in front of the rim and swat everything away. And change the name from "center" to goalie. Yawn. The rim is horizontal, unlike the other sports with legal and encouraged goalies, and the rim and backboard can allow a shot to fall in the rim or out of the rim. Once its out of the cylinder, its fair game. But interfering with the ball inside the cylinder should remain a violation for either team.
    I agree, except for on tip-ins, putbacks. Those should be legal IMO.
    Senior at the University of Louisville.
    Greenfield ---> The Ville

    Comment


    • #17
      Originally posted by SycamoreKen View Post
      Remember though, if the ball has started to fall in the rim at all it cannot be bothered. That was mentioned during the USA practice I saw.
      Good luck policing that.

      It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

      Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
      Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
      NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

        Originally posted by Kstat View Post
        Good luck policing that.
        Refs have been doing it around the world for quite a while now.

        Comment


        • #19
          Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

          Originally posted by Kstat View Post
          Good luck policing that.
          No harder than the ridiculous "invisible cylinder" they police now.

          I'd be interested in seeing how it plays out, as I've never watched a league that didn't have basket interference.

          However, if we look at Team USA 2008 statistics, I think the impact on FG% may be overstated:

          ## Player GP-GS Min--Avg FG-FGA Pct 3FG-FGA Pct FT-FTA Pct Off Def Tot Avg PF FO A TO Blk Stl Pts Avg
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          09 Wade, Dwyane....... 8-0 150 18.8 47-70 .671 8-17 .471 26-41 .634 14 18 32 4.0 13 0 15 13 1 18 128 16.0
          06 James, LeBron...... 8-8 198 24.8 50-83 .602 13-28 .464 11-24 .458 9 33 42 5.3 16 0 30 17 8 19 124 15.5
          10 Bryant, Kobe....... 8-8 188 23.5 48-104 .462 17-53 .321 7-12 .583 9 13 22 2.8 19 0 17 15 4 9 120 15.0
          15 Anthony, Carmelo... 8-8 153 19.1 27-64 .422 14-37 .378 24-29 .828 5 29 34 4.3 23 0 3 6 2 8 92 11.5
          11 Howard, Dwight..... 8-8 129 16.1 35-47 .745 0-0 .000 17-37 .459 15 31 46 5.8 23 0 4 9 7 5 87 10.9
          12 Bosh, Chris........ 8-0 138 17.3 24-31 .774 0-0 .000 25-29 .862 14 35 49 6.1 13 0 2 4 6 2 73 9.1
          07 Williams, Deron.... 8-0 152 19.0 23-52 .442 9-24 .375 9-10 .900 3 15 18 2.3 21 1 22 12 0 6 64 8.0
          13 Paul, Chris........ 8-0 175 21.9 19-38 .500 4-14 .286 22-24 .917 6 23 29 3.6 15 0 33 9 0 18 64 8.0
          14 Prince, Tayshaun... 8-0 88 11.0 13-22 .591 6-11 .545 2-4 .500 6 9 15 1.9 7 0 2 2 1 3 34 4.3
          04 Boozer, Carlos..... 8-0 48 6.0 10-18 .556 0-0 .000 6-8 .750 5 10 15 1.9 9 0 2 8 0 2 26 3.3
          08 Redd, Michael...... 8-0 73 9.1 10-31 .323 5-18 .278 0-1 .000 3 6 9 1.1 1 0 4 3 0 2 25 3.1
          05 Kidd, Jason........ 8-8 108 13.5 6-7 .857 1-2 .500 0-0 .000 6 15 21 2.6 13 0 16 12 2 5 13 1.6
          ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          Total.............. 8 1600 312-567 .550 77-204 .377 149-219 .680 95 237 332 41.5 173 1 150 110 31 97 850 106.2
          Opponents.......... 8 1600 222-551 .403 60-201 .299 123-156 .788 102 185 287 35.9 184 - 85 154 29 53 627 78.4

          Comment


          • #20
            Not even a remotely fair assessment. It's like saying the 3 point line had no effect in the game in 1980.

            Give NBA athletes 2 good years of this rule and it will be exploited every single possession.

            Not to mention teams will start fouling with 9 minutes left knowing they can knock the 2nd FT off the rim.
            Last edited by Kstat; 07-19-2012, 08:02 PM.

            It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

            Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
            Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
            NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

              Originally posted by Kstat View Post
              Not even a remotely fair assessment. It's like saying the 3 point line had no effect in the game in 1980.
              Um, I'm likely missing the comparison, but showing statistics from a FIBA tournament involving teams that have been playing with these rules primarily for their entire careers seems to be a pretty good way to look at potential impact. Not a perfect way, just pretty good.

              Originally posted by Kstat View Post
              Give NBA athletes 2 good years of this rule and it will be exploited every single possession.
              Again, this has been in play for years overseas without the issues you're speaking of. Sure, it isn't the NBA, but it isn't exactly a joke either.

              Originally posted by Kstat View Post
              Not to mention teams will start fouling with 9 minutes left knowing they can knock the 2nd FT off the rim.
              I imagine this is something that can be dealt with if it needs to be, ala the "Hack-a-Shaq" of the early 2000's. However, again, I don't see this as a huge issue.

              Comment


              • #22
                Fiba doesn't gave NBA athletes, or NBA coaching. It's like saying the rule has no effect in the d league.

                It wasn't about being the team everyone loved, it was about beating the teams everyone else loved.

                Division Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
                Conference Champions 1955, 1956, 1988, 2005
                NBA Champions 1989, 1990, 2004

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                  Some of you don't seem to understand the difference in goal tending and interference. Goal tending will never go away, EVER.

                  I'm all for getting rid of interference, I like the international rules on interference.
                  "Just look at the flowers ........ BANG" - Carol "The Walking Dead"

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                    They said on NBA TV that Adam Silver said it would be likely companies could put advertisements on jerseys, similar to Europe.

                    Yuck. There are plenty of places to tastefully advertise. I hope this doesn't go through.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                      via RoboHicks

                      http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-boa...5779--nba.html
                      The NBA Board of Governors approved a new look for uniforms and a couple of changes in the use of video replay. Commissioner David Stern met with the media Thursday after the Board of Governors held their annual summer meeting.

                      He said the league is looking to add possibly $100 million in revenue by permitting small advertising patches on uniforms starting in the 2013-14 season.

                      ''The view is, that the teams would need a significant time; one, to sell the patch; and number two, for Adidas to manufacture the uniforms, because the patch that would be on the players' uniforms would also appear on the jerseys at retail,'' said Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, who is handling the uniform change.

                      Silver said there are revenue projections from European soccer teams that the NBA could use.

                      The competition committee altered a few rule changes with respect to the use of video replay, primarily in the final 2 minutes or overtime of games.

                      At any point in the game, officials can now check video replay on all flagrant fouls.

                      ''So the call is flagrant foul and then you go the tape, and you decide whether it's a 1 or a 2, or in some rare instance, maybe even a common foul,'' Stern said.

                      Officials can now use video replay in the final two minutes or overtime to decide whether a defender was in or out of the restricted area around the basket on charge and blocking fouls. Replay can also be used for goaltending calls in the late stages games as well.

                      In September, the competition committee will look at flopping and fouls away from the ball.
                      Stern said that under the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the implementation of revenue sharing that profitable numbers are ''optimistic.''

                      He said the proposed sale of the Memphis Grizzlies is proceeding on pace and the league hopes to approve it in the next couple of months. The league approved the sale of the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan's ownership interest in the Toronto Raptors to Bell Canada and Rogers Communications.

                      Stern said there are more positives with the league, including the successful summer league held in Las Vegas.

                      ''We had a happy group of owners,'' Stern said. ''Our ratings are up 28 percent over the last decade, while television ratings are down around 30 percent the last decade. We are going to have our best year ever, both in gate and sponsorship this coming year.''
                      I honestly don't care about a little patch on the uniforms. We're not about to be the "Simon Mall Pacers" or something. Not that you could blame Herb if that ever happened. It's a far better avenue to go down than raising revenue by raising prices on patrons.
                      Last edited by Heisenberg; 07-20-2012, 12:25 AM.

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                        Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                        via RoboHicks

                        http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-boa...5779--nba.html


                        I honestly don't care about a little patch on the uniforms. We're not about to be the "Simon Mall Pacers" or something. Not that you could blame Herb if that ever happened. It's a far better avenue to go down than raising revenue by raising prices on patrons.

                        Good point. Why stop there though? Lets put the golden arches right on midcourt instead of a logo. Lets put a pepsi sign right on the glass backboard. We should also put the Geico Gecko right on the 24 second shot clock. I bet the NBA could make even more money!

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                          Originally posted by joew8302 View Post
                          Good point. Why stop there though? Lets put the golden arches right on midcourt instead of a logo. Lets put a pepsi sign right on the glass backboard. We should also put the Geico Gecko right on the 24 second shot clock. I bet the NBA could make even more money!
                          Go for it. Fine with me. Doesn't mean I have to watch the Hamburgler bang on the block or watch the Geico lizard botch a PnR. I honestly don't care, it's still the highest level of basketball in the world and that's all that matters.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Do we really need to revisit this?

                            Originally posted by Steagles View Post
                            Let me know when any Knicks fan likes their new jersey (if this passes)



                            Sent from #PacerNation using Tapatalk
                            Senior at the University of Louisville.
                            Greenfield ---> The Ville

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                              Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                              Not even a remotely fair assessment. It's like saying the 3 point line had no effect in the game in 1980.

                              Give NBA athletes 2 good years of this rule and it will be exploited every single possession.

                              Not to mention teams will start fouling with 9 minutes left knowing they can knock the 2nd FT off the rim.
                              Well me agreeing to it meant in essence, that a bank shot couldn't be bothered with before it hit the rim, or that free throws couldn't be affected either, players would have to let free throws do what they do, there would be interference if done on a FT. I think it makes life a lot easier for the officials not having to worry about the invisible no touch zone around the rim.
                              "It's just unfortunate that we've been penalized so much this year and nothing has happened to the Pistons, the Palace or the city of Detroit," he said. "It's almost like it's always our fault. The league knows it. They should be ashamed of themselves to let the security be as lax as it is around here."

                              ----------------- Reggie Miller

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: Board of Governors to vote on rule changes

                                Originally posted by Kstat View Post
                                Not even a remotely fair assessment. It's like saying the 3 point line had no effect in the game in 1980.

                                Give NBA athletes 2 good years of this rule and it will be exploited every single possession.

                                Not to mention teams will start fouling with 9 minutes left knowing they can knock the 2nd FT off the rim.
                                Tiago Splitter agreed with you in 2010.

                                http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...ule-695207.php

                                Tiago Splitter, the 6-foot-11 Brazilian rookie center who joined the Spurs after 10 seasons under international rules in the Spanish League, worries that the abundance of athletic big men in the NBA could make a mockery of the game if they are allowed to take the ball off the rim or touch it in the imaginary cylinder above the rim.
                                Though Splitter enjoyed being able to touch the ball on, or above, the rim in the Spanish League, he prefers that the NBA leave its goaltending rule unchanged.
                                “I think here the people are more athletic, and it's easier to do that,” he said. “I think it's better to keep it like it is.”


                                Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/s...#ixzz218szF0j6

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