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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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Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

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  • Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

    http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--nb...073534724.html


    Philadelphia1. Philadelphia 76ers (3-0; last week's ranking: 30): After entering the season with what was considered the league's weakest roster, the Sixers and rookie Michael Carter-Williams beat reigning champion Miami, Washington (on the road) and Chicago. Reality could hit soon, but, for now, the Sixers can enjoy the top spot.





    Indiana2. Indiana Pacers (3-0; last week's ranking: 3): Guard Paul George opened the season in spectacular fashion with game averages of 25.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 5.7 free throws made and 3.3 made 3-pointers.


    It's not detailed but it's a ranking.





    Houston3. Houston Rockets (3-0; last week's ranking: 6): Dwight Howard returns to Los Angeles on Monday night, albeit to play the Los Angeles Clippers, not his old Lakers. Lakers play at Houston on Thursday, albeit without Kobe Bryant.





    Minnesota4. Minnesota Timberwolves (3-0; last week's ranking: 13): The undefeated Wolves showed strong signs that they're capable of making the postseason for the first time since 2004. Kevin Love is healthy and averaging 29.6 points and 14.6 rebounds.





    Miami5. Miami Heat (2-2; last week's ranking: 1): The Heat got back to .500 by defeating the Wizards on Sunday. Miami entered the game 1-2, only the second time LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh took the court with a losing record since they joined forces.





    San Antonio6. San Antonio Spurs (2-1; last week's ranking: 2): After a subpar NBA Finals, Manu Ginobili opened the season strong, averaging 14.3 points on 51.4 percent shooting from the field. The Spurs play host to the Golden State Warriors on Friday.





    Oklahoma City7. Oklahoma City Thunder (60-22 last season): Oklahoma City Thunder (2-1; last week's ranking: 8): Russell Westbrook's season debut after a quick return from right knee surgery was a success: He had 21 points and seven assists against Phoenix on Sunday. Expect the Thunder to make a big jump in the rankings soon.





    Los Angeles8. Los Angeles Clippers (2-1; last week's ranking: 5): Center DeAndre Jordan is averaging a double-double of 11.3 points and 12 rebounds as well as two blocks and two steals. Dwight Howard will give him a great challenge Monday night at Staples Center.





    Golden State9. Golden State Warriors (2-1; last week's ranking: 7): Golden State's game at Philadelphia on Monday is suddenly a big deal. It will be interesting to see if 6-foot-6 Michael Carter-Williams can give Stephen Curry any trouble.





    Detroit10. Detroit Pistons (2-1; last week's ranking: 17): Brandon Jennings had 14 points, four assists and four steals while wearing a protective mask in his Pistons debut against Boston. Indiana and Oklahoma City are up next.





    Chicago11. Chicago Bulls (1-2; last week's ranking: 4): Despite playing in the preseason, Derrick Rose has looked rusty in his return from his knee injury, averaging 14.3 points on 28.8 percent shooting from the field and 4.3 assists on 5.7 turnovers per game.





    Memphis12. Memphis Grizzlies (1-2; last week's ranking: 9): The Grizzlies dropped two of their first three games under new head coach Dave Joerger, including a surprising 12-point loss to Dallas on Saturday. Memphis' fortune could change with three straight games at home.






    Portland13. Portland Trail Blazers (2-1; last week's ranking: 19): Forward Nicolas Batum called his 3-pointer at the buzzer of a win over San Antonio on Saturday – a shot that gave him a triple-double – "the worst thing he's ever done in his career."





    Dallas14. Dallas Mavericks (2-1; last week's ranking: 20): The Mavs off to an impressive start that included a close loss to the Rockets. Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis are both averaging 23.3 points per game. The Lakers are up next.





    Brooklyn15. Brooklyn Nets (1-2; last week's ranking: 11): Jason Kidd's coaching debut was one to forget after Brooklyn lost by 21 points to Orlando. Kevin Garnett has yet to score in double figures. The Nets did beat Miami.





    New York16. New York Knicks (1-2; last week's ranking: 10): Carmelo Anthony hasn't shot well, making 37.5 percent of his attempts from the field. Newcomer Andrea Bargnani is averaging just 9.6 points. Knicks fans are already booing at home.





    Los Angeles17. Los Angeles Lakers (2-2; last week's ranking: 18): The Lakers have to be pleased with their start without injured star Kobe Bryant. Xavier Henry has earned the starting small forward job and is an early candidate for Most Improved Player.





    Phoenix18. Phoenix Suns (2-1; last week's ranking: 29): Kudos to the Suns for an impressive start after being projected to contend for the league's worst record. Eric Bledsoe has played strong despite not being offered a contract extension.





    Toronto19. Toronto Raptors (2-1; last week's ranking: 21): The Raptors are off to a quality start, but have yet to play anyone of note. That changes on Tuesday when the Heat visit Toronto. Rudy Gay is shooting only 32.7 percent from the field so far.





    Orlando20. Orlando Magic (2-2; last week's ranking: 27): With Sunday's victory over Brooklyn, Orlando has won back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 19, 2012. Rookie guard Victor Oladipo scored 19 points versus the Nets, but also had seven turnovers.





    New Orleans21. New Orleans Pelicans (1-2; last week's ranking: 15): Second-year center Anthony Davis had great first week with averages of 23.7 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. The Pelicans also unveiled the NBA's scariest-looking mascot.





    Cleveland22. Cleveland Cavaliers (1-2; last week's ranking: 16): It will be interesting to see the reception former Sixers center Andrew Bynum – who never played in his lone season with the Sixers – receives when the Cavs play at Philadelphia on Friday.





    Charlotte23. Charlotte Bobcats (1-2; last week's ranking: 22): The Bobcats' leading scorer so far is Kemba Walker, who is averaging 16.3 points. Keep an eye on center Al Jefferson's ankle issues after he missed the past two games.





    Atlanta24. Atlanta Hawks (1-2; last week's ranking: 23): Point guard Jeff Teague is off to a good start averaging 18.3 points and 8.3 assists. Center Al Horford, however, has scored less than 13 points in two of the first three games. The Hawks miss Josh Smith.





    Sacramento25. Sacramento Kings (1-2; last week's ranking: 24): After averaging 27 points the first two games, DeMarcus Cousins was held to eight points in a loss to Golden State on Saturday. Guard Isaiah Thomas is averaging 19 points, 4.7 assists and three rebounds.






    Milwaukee26. Milwaukee Bucks (1-2; last week's ranking: 26): So who's the Bucks leader in points and rebounds right now? Center Zaza Pachulia, who is averaging 13 points and 7.7 rebounds. The Bucks have seven players averaging at least nine points per game.





    Denver27. Denver Nuggets (0-2; last week's ranking: 12): Mascot Rocky said on Twitter he is "feeling much better," and could be back Tuesday against San Antonio. Rocky gave the fans a scare after he was motionless on the floor prior to Friday's contest after getting the wind knocked out of him. The Nuggets are winless.






    Washington28. Washington Wizards (0-3; last week's ranking: 14): The Wizards entered the season talking playoffs. Getting a win would help their cause. Washington's next five games: Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Oklahoma City, Dallas and San Antonio.





    Utah29. Utah Jazz (0-3; last week's ranking: 25) The winless Jazz go on a four-game trip to face Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago and Toronto. The Jazz and Celtics could both be winless by the time they meet Wednesday. Utah desperately needs a quality point guard.





    Boston30. Boston Celtics (0-3; last week's ranking: 28): When will new Celtics coach Brad Stevens get his first NBA victory? The Celtics play the Magic twice, and Utah and Charlotte in the next six games. Boston also has road games at Memphis and Miami.
    I'm not perfect and neither are you.

    Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,
    Ephisians 4: 32 And be kind towards one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Elohim also forgave you in Messiah.

  • #2
    Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

    Really hate how tough a start Brad is having in Boston.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

      Originally posted by QuickRelease View Post
      Really hate how tough a start Brad is having in Boston.
      It's not a surprise since Rondo is hurt. I don't expect them to win more than 30 games this season even after Rondo returns.

      Philly has been really impressive. I think the Pacers are the clearly the better team but since they helped the Pacers out by beating their rivals, they can have the top spot for 1 week.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

        We're #1 on ESPN power rankings!
        http://espn.go.com/nba/powerrankings

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

          Have the 76ers made the biggest jump in Power Rankings history? Not sure about Yahoo sports...I just read the ESPN ones. 20 is the biggest I have seen, I believe. Maybe I am forgetting something. But **** yeah, Pacers are #1 where it matters: ESPN POWER RANKINGS. Yahoo sports is amateur hour.
          https://soundcloud.com/geoclipse

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

            It's still early in the season, buuuuut....


            WE'RE NUMBER 1! WE'RE NUMBER 1!!!

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

              Great start. Can't wait for tomorrow!

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                intradasting....

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                  These power rankings are weird and annoying, but I don't hate seeing the Pacers so high.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                    They should put up a little icon that looks like a championship banner each week in the colors/logo of the team that was #1 in power rankings the previous week and keep them all in a row throughout the season as the list grows.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                      Sixers should not even be considered for #1. Their record is a fluke.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                        Originally posted by FortyDaysThree View Post
                        Sixers should not even be considered for #1. Their record is a fluke.
                        I've never looked at Power Rankings solely as "Who are the best pure teams in the league", but moreso a combination of that and whose playing well RIGHT NOW. With that said, and while I agree with you that Philly will probably fade into Bolivia, they deserve their praise right now. They're 3-0, and one of those wins has come against LeBron James and the defending champs. The #1 Spot? Probably not. But with it being SO early in the season, I'm sure Spears was just wanting to have some fun with the worst team the previous week being able to be put as the best team this week.

                        It's all in fun.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Nov 4 NBA Power Rankings

                          Anyone remember the last time we were ranked #1 after week 1, a tough time followed.
                          This team is for real though.
                          Why do teams tank? Ask a Spurs fan.

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