Announcement

Collapse

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.
See more
See less

It really hit me today

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #16
    Re: It really hit me today

    Originally posted by Shade
    I know I'm going to sound like UB, but here goes.

    I know it's not fair to think this until Jack, Polly, Bender, etc. are back, but the absence of Ron really hit me today. I couldn't help but think that we would have won fairly easily today, even without the others, if Ronnie were there today. I'm beginning to lean toward the "we can't win a championship without Ron" side.

    P.S. Miami is a legit threat. Right now, they're the best team in the East.
    You're right, it's not fair to think that until those guys are back, and we come up short.

    Comment


    • #17
      Re: It really hit me today

      Originally posted by Kstat
      As for myself, every DAY I miss Carlos Delfino. He's SUCH an important piece of the bench, because he creates %80 of the offense in our 2nd-unit. I'd really like to see how he plays guys like Freddie and James Jones.

      ALso keep in mind, Frank Williams will more than likely be a Piston one week from today. I hope he brings more stability to our backup PG spot, but you can never tell with new players.....I like his game a TOn though.
      Kstat, I read a blip from a Chicago Tribune article that said the Williams-Parker deal is essentially dead. And Hunter played very well today, even if he didn't score. If Delfino can play consistent, he would provide that other scorer the Pistons desperately need off the bench.

      Hopefully the Pistons and Pacers play in the playoffs. Rivalries are good for sports, and this was a great rivalry game. It reminded me of the intensity of a playoff game.

      Comment


      • #18
        Re: It really hit me today

        Folks... can we give up the hope of Bender coming back and making any kind of difference? How many times does the guy have to let us down before we can all just let it go....

        If our hopes this season rely on Bender then I am going to start getting VERY depressed.

        That Matt Goukas article is weighing heavily on my mind as well as the fact that losing breeds losing.... and we are not winning the games we should... and with JO back we lost yet another game and are on the wrong side of .500 now.



        -Bball
        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


        • #19
          Re: It really hit me today

          Well, that's the problem, I truly believe that JB is the only one who can save us.

          And yes, I'll freely admit, that's depressing, because his knees just don't want to cooperate. But I don't think Jack and Fred make up for Ronnie. I don't know, maybe there's more to Jack's game then the little we've obviously seen this year, but I really don't see him being a difference maker. There's a big difference between being the second option as opposed to the third.
          Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: It really hit me today

            You know, I still remember watching San Antonio's run to the title a couple years back, and I remember thinking that this Jackson fellow, IMO, put them over them top. His energy, clutch shooting, and "intangibles" I suppose, (not sure how to explain it) impressed me. Now he is on the Pacers, and playing better than then, I am really counting on him making a big impact. I also remember he had a very big mouth. Like physically big, I bet he could swallow a watermelon.

            I didn't see too many of the pacer games he has played however. Well, only bits and pieces of them.
            You, Never? Did the Kenosha Kid?

            Comment


            • #21
              Re: It really hit me today

              Without Ron, this team could make a nice run in the playoffs, go deep even, but it's not a championship contender. Either Ron or a suitable replacement is needed.
              Mickael Pietrus Le site officiel

              Comment


              • #22
                Re: It really hit me today

                what team could beat us in the finals if we make it? Minny? I THINK NOT...JO VS KG WOULD BE AWESOME! Spurs? TD Vs Duncan...Tinsley Vs Parker...Manu Vs SJax...I like our chances! Kings? Give me a break...JO would kill webber. Tinsley Vs Bibby Would be awesome...Christie is NEVER A FACTOR...SJAX Vs Peja? what a fun matchup! I'm not giving up hope...

                Comment


                • #23
                  Re: It really hit me today

                  Originally posted by kerosene
                  Without Ron, this team could make a nice run in the playoffs, go deep even, but it's not a championship contender. Either Ron or a suitable replacement is needed.


                  Your last sentence speaks volumes to me. "Either Ron or a suitable replacement is needed"

                  Is there a suitable replacement currently playing in the NBA. I am not talking about an available player, I am talking about any player in the league you want to name who could come in here and "replace Ronnie"

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Re: It really hit me today

                    Originally posted by Kegboy
                    Well, that's the problem, I truly believe that JB is the only one who can save us.
                    Even if he was healthy he doesn't have the ability.
                    The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: It really hit me today

                      Again I must come forward to state the obvious.

                      If what you guys are saying is true, which I don't beleive btw, then Jermaine O'Neal is the most overpaid player in the NBA. Maybe even the history of the NBA.

                      I know a max. player always needs a sidekick, but you guys aren't saying that. You are saying that it is Ron that needs the sidekick & if that is the case then J.O. is the most overpaid Robin in history.

                      Look, I don't deny for a min. the value of a sane/dedicated Ron Artest. However that is beyond our grasp right now.

                      If you think the team as it stands can't compete for a title then let's start talking about what needs to be done to get us one.

                      Myself, I'm comfortable in waiting on Jax to return.

                      But if you guys don't think that is the answer then tell me what to do & just saying without Ron a title can't be won is not an answer.

                      NBA titles have been won before without Ron Artest & I'm certain in the future that titles will be won again without Ron Artest.

                      Do you guys see a weakness at Sg? Sf? Pf? Pg? C? Bench play? Coaching? What?


                      Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        Re: It really hit me today

                        Based on yesterday you need a better backup PG.

                        The same thing happened yesterday that used to happen with the Nets when he came in - the offense ground to a complete and utter halt. Now I haven't seen many Pacer games lately (in fact yesterday may be the first time I really had a chance to closely watch one this season without something distracting me - get the GF away to visit relatives) so it may have been a one-game anomaly, but I didn't get that sense from watching it.

                        I wouldn't be opposed to using Gill as backup PG for a while - at least he makes something happen.
                        The poster formerly known as Rimfire

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Re: It really hit me today

                          Originally posted by Peck
                          Myself, I'm comfortable in waiting on Jax to return.

                          But if you guys don't think that is the answer then tell me what to do & just saying without Ron a title can't be won is not an answer.

                          NBA titles have been won before without Ron Artest & I'm certain in the future that titles will be won again without Ron Artest.

                          Do you guys see a weakness at Sg? Sf? Pf? Pg? C? Bench play? Coaching? What?

                          There is no doubt that titles have been won without Artest as he has never won a title before. But neither have the Pacers.

                          Are there weaknesses at certain positions, probably, but that is not how I analyze an NBA team, at least not a championship contender. Lakers had many weaknesses at certain positions and yet won 3 titles. The Spurs have weaknessess and yet won 2 titles and the Bulls had weaknesses and won 6 titles.

                          While there are many questions I ask myself, the one that is most important is this. Can the team score late in playoff games, can they get stops late in playoff games and can they get the necessary defensive rebounds late in playoff games. These questions assume the team is already one of the best in the league to begin with.

                          So whether the Pacers 8th man is better than the Pistons, Heat or Spurs 8th man means very little.

                          Back to my question, simply put the Pistons were able to do all three of those things in the ECF last season even though the pacers had Artest and I saw the same things yesterday.

                          One other thing, if Artest was as you put it Peck sane/dedicated, that does not mean the pacers would win the championship this season, but no one can successfully make the case that not having Artest will make the Pacers a better team.


                          However, we don't have any choice but to wait and see what the Pacers look like with Jax at small forward.

                          Keep in mind the Pacers have lost Artest and Harrington, can Jax and Fred replace those two guys, can Cro and Bender help replace those two guys. If they can then that puts the Pacers back to the level they were last season, but that was not good enough.


                          If Tinsley is healthy having a better backup point guard will not make any difference.

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Re: It really hit me today

                            Wow, U.B. you just typed a lot & I have no idea what you are trying to say.

                            Without Ron you think we can't win a title, but unless I just read you wrong then even if we had Ron we weren't able to beat the Pistons last year so my impression is you don't think we could again.

                            If I'm wrong correct me.

                            But if that is the way you feel, then how do we fix that?

                            BTW, it's not fair to mention the Bulls, Lakers or Spurs because each of those teams had the most dominate player in the N.B.A. on their team at the time.

                            Of course the Spurs didn't have the most dominate but they did have probably the second most dominate player & then a legend in the middle.

                            I'm assuming you don't think J.O. is among the true elite of the league?


                            Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              Re: It really hit me today

                              Jax was the supposed improvement for this year, and for a while it looked like we were a better team with him in the line-up even of the bench.

                              Now however he is no longer the upgrade over Al, which he clearly is, but he is supposed to replace Ron, which in all honesty I don't see him doing and Fred has to replace Al, again a long shot.

                              So from better then last year, at best we go to equal to last year which wasn't enough. I feel that is what UB is saying.

                              And to answer your question, without pretending to be UB, yes JO is undoubtedly one of the elite in this league, but that doesn't mean that in this day and age, where the supporting cast shows you need more then one supestar to win a title or at least 8 stars instead of 2 superstars.
                              We can still go a long way, but the sure shot it seemed to be at the beginning of the season sure has changed outlook.

                              What currently is most important is getting the plays back in place, get the roles defined again and make sure no meltdowns occur again.

                              We desperately need some of the injured back and we need Tins healthy, he's been playing major minutes and very few 100% healthy.

                              I am sure we will go 3 - 0 over the next week, then we need to gain momentum by beating one or two of the better teams on the road, if we can do that, then we will be looking good for the rest of the season, however it all depends on Polly's return and JB getting in some significant time, sad to say.
                              So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

                              If you've done 6 impossible things today?
                              Then why not have Breakfast at Milliways!

                              Comment


                              • #30
                                Re: It really hit me today

                                Originally posted by Peck
                                Wow, U.B. you just typed a lot & I have no idea what you are trying to say.

                                Without Ron you think we can't win a title, but unless I just read you wrong then even if we had Ron we weren't able to beat the Pistons last year so my impression is you don't think we could again.

                                If I'm wrong correct me.

                                But if that is the way you feel, then how do we fix that?

                                BTW, it's not fair to mention the Bulls, Lakers or Spurs because each of those teams had the most dominate player in the N.B.A. on their team at the time.

                                Of course the Spurs didn't have the most dominate but they did have probably the second most dominate player & then a legend in the middle.

                                I'm assuming you don't think J.O. is among the true elite of the league?
                                I am saying that with Artest the Pacers would have a much better chance of winning the championship. Without Artest they don't have nearly as good a chance. let's say they had a 20% chance of winning it all with Artest. Without him they might have a 5% chance.

                                I realize I am going to contradict myself here. But because of the early season injuries we don't know how good a lineup of Tinsley, Jax, Artest, Jeff and J.O can be. But that is the lineup that I believe is needed to beat the Pistons. At least for large portions of the game. I am rambling here.

                                J.O is very close to being an elite player in the league, but he is still not as good as TD, KG or Shaq, but then the Pistons don't have any of those players.

                                I am getting confused.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X