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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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Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

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  • Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

    Could someone with ESPN Insider post this story please?

  • #2
    Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

    Overview

    The Pacers have always had a rep as sort of a bland team. They are without a headlining star who takes up residence in the nightly highlights. They are just as short on oohs as they are aahs to say nothing of the overall lack of drama.

    But what they've proved is bland can play. The Pacers stepped into the category of contender last season with a stronger-than-expected regular season and took the eventual champion Heat to six games in the second round and even led 2-1.

    Indiana finished with the sixth-best record in the league thanks to a roster full of emerging, coachable stars who get the most out of their ability and seem to be tailor-made to work together. Along with fluid ball movement and solid shooting, the Pacers have added a rugged aggressiveness as one of their calling cards, quietly becoming one of the most physical teams in the league. Nowhere was that more evident than the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Heat, as Danny Granger & Co. matched Miami's toughness and disrupted its game plan by bodying, pushing and clawing for every possession.

    The Pacers had somewhat of a quiet summer -- outside of retaining the services of All-Star center Roy Hibbert -- and focused on beefing up their bench. Depending on the timetable for Derrick Rose's return, they could finish as high as the No. 2 seed in the East, meaning they wouldn't have to face presumed No. 1 Miami until the conference finals. If there's optimism coming out of Indy, it's with very good reason.
    Additions

    With Darren Collison shipped off to the Dallas Mavericks, Indiana brought in D.J. Augustin, who could compete with George Hill for the starting job but more likely will embrace a role as the first point guard off the bench. Augustin's benefit to the Pacers will be his ability to distribute the ball, particularly in transition, where he is adept at finding streakers and trailers.

    His perimeter defense is suspect, which could limit his minutes in a heated, dragged-out playoff series. The onus will be on Augustin to make big strides in that department if he wants to see a significant role with the Pacers.

    Gerald Green's comeback was one of the feel-good stories of last season. But what the Pacers want to get out of the Green signing isn't high-flying dunks but an all-around meaningful contribution. They are hoping he is an immediate impact from behind the arc. His 39 percent shooting from 3 last season would have been second best on the Pacers. Green will also need to use his athletic skills in a more substantial way by becoming the type of defender who can keep quick strong guards in front to him.

    Key personnel

    The additions Indiana made this summer were nice, but its most important move was matching the four-year, $58 million offer sheet for Hibbert. The big man has worn the label of second-best center in the Eastern Conference for several years now -- not a bad distinction considering the best center was Dwight Howard.

    With Howard now basking in the sun with the Los Angeles Lakers and Andrew Bynum finding a new home with the Philadelphia 76ers, it's assumed that Hibbert will continue to wear that banner. Maybe. But the gap between Bynum and Hibbert is a lot smaller than Howard and Hibbert, and Hibbert has proved to be far more durable than Bynum. Hibbert is the biggest reason, figuratively and literally, that the Pacers are contenders.
    [+] EnlargeCarmelo Anthony and Danny Granger
    Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty ImagesGranger has settled far too often for outside jumpers and needs to get to the rim.

    Granger's production has tapered off in recent years (see below), so the Pacers are a team without a clear-cut go-to star. Granger has been their leading scorer since his second season, but he isn't the sort of star player who can put a team on his back. Last season, he was far too reliant on his outside shot. More than half of his attempts were deep jumpers. But Granger's temperament and ability blends well with those around him, which gives the Pacers' offense a natural balance and is arguably just as important as a go-to guy.

    Paul George could be the most intriguing player on the roster thanks to his blend of terrific athleticism and defensive skills. Becoming a full-time starter last season, the versatile George saw jumps in nearly every major statistical category. He averaged an impressive 14.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and two steals per 36 minutes. He also displayed skills that could land him on league's All-Defense team sooner rather than later. George could be the X factor against the Heat as the Pacers' best bet to slow LeBron James. While David West's production dropped off in his first season back from a devastating knee injury, his workman-like toughness helps against elite power forwards.

    Telling stat: 3

    As in three years in a row. That's the number of seasons in which Granger's scoring average has dipped. In 2008-09, he averaged a gaudy 25.8 points per game, following that up with 24.1, 20.5 and 18.7 over the next three seasons.

    You can look at that in two ways. First, the Pacers have a much better roster and the scoring load is spread out more evenly. Gone are the days where Granger would simply try to shoot the Pacers to a win. On the other hand, Granger's field goal percentage has dipped each of the past three years and bottomed out at a career-low 41.6 percent last season. That has less to do with how the Pacers have beefed up their roster than Granger being exposed for being a bit one-dimensional, preferring to catch-and-shoot rather than create opportunities going toward the basket. His 3.2 attempts per game at the rim were his lowest in five years. That's not the most reassuring stat for Indy's best player who should be smack in the middle of his prime.

    What needs to go right?

    The Pacers have a solid collection of young players who mesh well together and are far from their individual ceilings. With quality players at each position and reasonable depth, they are a squad fairly well built for the playoffs and should offer a tough challenge for whoever they draw. Given that the Pacers match up well with Miami and have a clear advantage on the block with Hibbert, they'll force the Heat to play near-perfect basketball to get by them. That or engage them in an unwanted grudge match. Probably both. But much like last season, the Pacers are simply a class below the Heat.

    On paper, the Knicks seem like the ideal team to challenge Miami's supremacy in the East, but despite bigger names and a much higher payroll, they simply haven't been able to put it together. The Pacers have and with far less fanfare. The answer lies in the fact that their collection of individual skills fit together better than the Knicks do. Call it chemistry, call it being on the same page, but regardless of how you classify it, that quality is an essential building block of a contender.

    The Pacers are a quality team that can play with most anyone, but the reality is they're still a big trade and lots of development away from being able to knock off Miami.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

      I know there has been talk of a weak off season, but I think a real back up center and the combo of DJ/Green off the bench can potentially make a huge difference.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

        Pretty much agree with this. We had the 5th best record IIRC. If George and Hibbert develop like we think they can, and Wade or Lebron gets hurt though the East very well could be ours

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

          i don't expect miami to be the best team in the east this year. Expect a post-finals hangover and the annual Dwyane Wade injury. Indy has a chance to get the top seed.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

            I like the optimism, although I thought it was a bit of a stretch to say Roy has been considered the second-best center in the east for several years.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

              Originally posted by Smits Happens View Post
              I like the optimism, although I thought it was a bit of a stretch to say Roy has been considered the second-best center in the east for several years.
              the stretch was "for several years". He was the 2nd best center last year and is this year.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                I heartly laughed about The T-Wolves being part of this contenders series.

                Nothing that hasn't already been said about the Pacers in this article. Our best bet is to hope that Hibbert and Paul George take the next steps in their respective development. Otherwise our roster, as currently constructed, will have a hard time beating the Heat in a playoff series.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                  The T-Wolves were rolling along till the Rubio injury, why aren't they contenders this year? You have all-star talent at two positions.

                  edit - they were 21-20 coming off a loss to the Lakers when Rubio went out. They went 5-20 after that including 1-13 to end the season.


                  I can't agree with Bill, I don't think the change is HUGE from this to last. I think in raw total skill it's not much different. My hope is that there's a small amount of overall talent increase but with a big change in TYPE so that the overall fit is better.

                  I can't raise expectations much on that. I like the idea of continued increase from Roy and Paul, and perhaps more recovery from West. It's just several small increases that could maintain their status but which doesn't make them better than a full strength Chicago or Miami.

                  NJ, Boston, PHI, NY, and ATL all seem vulnerable but also could easily push a Pacers team that doesn't take a step forward.


                  By the way, VOGEL NEEDS TO IMPROVE TOO. Good attitude, good overall strategic philosophy, but not a great playbook as it was executed last year. More than anything, smart plays run well this year could be the make or break for the team.

                  Good talent balance but no one you just ride to the top, and that means you need 5-8 guys that play picture perfect teamwork. That wasn't true last year as they often struggled to integrate their games despite having good team attitudes.
                  Last edited by Naptown_Seth; 09-19-2012, 01:42 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                    The Pacers improvements were never going to be from adding talent. Its about Growth. We need Hill, Hibbert, and George to improve like they should. With solid play from Green and Mahinmi. And if Hansborough could go back to how he played a few years ago that would be great.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                      Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                      By the way, VOGEL NEEDS TO IMPROVE TOO. Good attitude, good overall strategic philosophy, but not a great playbook as it was executed last year. More than anything, smart plays run well this year could be the make or break for the team.
                      This. We need plays that have multiple options depending on what the defense does, then we need to practice them until we can't get them wrong.
                      BillS

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

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                        Originally posted by BillS View Post
                        This. We need plays that have multiple options depending on what the defense does, then we need to practice them until we can't get them wrong.
                        Give Vogel a bit of a break. He never had a real training camp with his team. His first year was spent just trying to undo the O'Brien mess. And then he had to deal with the lockout. And then a condensed season. Mark Cuban even pointed out how the Pacers weren't able to work on as many things in training camp as they needed. He pointed out how the year they beat the heat they had spent an entire preseason game working on the type of things they would eventually go on to use against Lebron.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                          Originally posted by Naptown_Seth View Post
                          By the way, VOGEL NEEDS TO IMPROVE TOO. Good attitude, good overall strategic philosophy, but not a great playbook as it was executed last year. More than anything, smart plays run well this year could be the make or break for the team.
                          %100 agreed. if he is coaches like last season he should be gone.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                            I agree that I'd like to see Vogel have a full training camp and season at least before we judge him too harshly.

                            Thanks for the article, great read.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Contenders Profile: Indiana Pacers - Insider Story

                              Originally posted by Mad-Mad-Mario View Post
                              Give Vogel a bit of a break. He never had a real training camp with his team. His first year was spent just trying to undo the O'Brien mess. And then he had to deal with the lockout. And then a condensed season.
                              Which is why he needs to improve this year.

                              No one is saying he CAN'T do it, just that there are no excuses this year.
                              BillS

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

                              Comment

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