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Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"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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The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

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  • The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

    Nice article.

    http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-...e-ninja-pacers

    When the NBA released its schedule this summer, I was shocked. The Indiana Pacers were fresh off pushing the Miami Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. I've seen series go seven games and not be close. This was as close as you could get. Miami controlled that Game 7, but really, the Pacers were one good quarter away from stealing the Heat's spot and facing San Antonio. Not to mention, they had a bizarre coaching decision (keeping Roy Hibbert out of Game 1) that in part impacted the finish to that game.

    This team, which had shown likeable, fun, young stars like Roy Hibbert and Paul George, who had funny press conferences and big highlight reels, who played in a place renown for being a basketball mecca.

    They are scheduled to be on non-NBATV national television 10 times ths season. Ten.

    I won't go into the dynamics of what other teams are on there more. There are some understandable decisions (Kobe Bryant was a dice roll and the Lakers could roll out Kobe and the Tiny Toons cast -- and they kind of are -- and get ratings), there are some baffling ones. But the bigger point is that Indiana is being wholly ignored, after establishing itself as title contender last season, then improving their roster this summer.

    And here's the amazing thing. That decision has actually gotten worse.

    The Pacers improved to 6-0 Friday night, coming back from a double-digit deficit against Toronto and holding the Raptors to 33 percent shooting from the second quarter on. They have the second best defensive efficiency (points per possession allowed), the second best net points per possession, the thirteenth best assist ratio, the third best rebound percentage (percentage of available rebounds grabbed), 11th in effective field goal percentage (factoring three-pointers, seventh in true shooting percentage (factoring three pointers and free throws), second in points of turnovers... You getting the picture yet? Wait, there's more! 1st in opponents' fast break points and opponent points in the paint allowed, and are allowing opponents to shoot just 46 percent in the restricted area.

    So, yeah, they're pretty good. It's early in the season, but their schedule hasn't been especially soft, either. They look like a monster.

    And still, people will sleep on them.

    Last season, the talk was about the New York Knicks on account of their (unsustainably) hot start shooting and a wonderful April run. This, despite the Pacers having been a more consistent and better team for the middle and longer part of the season. When they kicked the Knicks down the stairwell in the playoffs, the narrative was more about te Knicks' struggles than Indiana. No one really noticed how tough they had played Miami.

    If you're making the case for Indiana, it goes like this:

    1. Their defense is dominant, one of the better teams of the past decade, with the ability to protect at the rim and on the perimeter.

    2. Their offense is improving, 15th this season in offensive efficiency up from 19th last year. Paul George looks like a significantly improved player from last season... when he won Most Improved Player. Luis Scola and C.J. Watson gives them better offensive balance off the bench and they are shooting more three-pointers and fewer mid-range jumpers. They're also shooting fewer shots at the rim, but an increased shooting percentage is likely leading to fewer points for offensive putbacks. (14.3 second-chance points per game last year, compared to 11.8 this season).

    The Pacers are converting inefficient shots to efficient shots, and that's only going to help their offense. They used this same tactic against New York and it was part of why their sluggish offense from last year turned into a monster in the last two rounds.

    3. They are one of the best coached teams in the league thanks to Frank Vogel, who balances drive and ease with his players and has managed the team's identity brilliantly.

    4. They lack egos. This is where the question of marketability comes in. Would the Pacers be more popular if they had a me-first, isolation-heavy star on their roster? Would they be more noteworthy with more internal drama and in-fighting? Instead, the Pacers always seem positive, go about their business, and do their work.

    5. No team hates Miami more. Sure, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and blah blah blah. The Pacers hate the Heat. It's been this way for two years. The Pacers knock the Heat around, defend LeBron James as well as Chicago does, and have the offensive weapons to counter. And they take every matchup personally.

    Even if the Pacers lose to the Nets Saturday, they'll still have the best mark in the league, still have the best resume of any team, and still have answered most of the questions people had about them. ("Can Paul George get any better?" "How good is Roy Hibbert?" "Can David West maintain?" The answers, in order, are: yes, yes, yes.)

    So the Pacers will go along, not being seen by the public despite funny and engaging stars, despite being one of the league's best, despite being the early (and it is extremely early) favorite to knock off Miami, if anyone can. They are the stealth contenders, your Indiana Ninja Pacers.

  • #2
    Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

    Honestly, I think the "no one pays attention to Indiana" stuff is just click bait. It's predetermined narratives that really don't even have anything to do with us that lets a writer wax...well, just wax really. Lots and lots of media pay attention to us now. We're the new "it" team.

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    • #3
      Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

      Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
      Honestly, I think the "no one pays attention to Indiana" stuff is just click bait. It's predetermined narratives that really don't even have anything to do with us that lets a writer wax...well, just wax really. Lots and lots of media pay attention to us now. We're the new "it" team.
      Sure, but the article certainly doesn't hurt the chances that casual watchers might go out of their way to watch the team.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

        Originally posted by docpaul View Post
        Sure, but the article certainly doesn't hurt the chances that casual watchers might go out of their way to watch the team.
        Oh I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, I just think it's an easy story.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

          No one pays attention to the Pacers cuz they r a small market Team with a boring offense that does not cater to the casual fan. The only real star that may garnish some attention is PG24 and ( to a certain extent....cuz of his personality and twitter following ) Hibbert....which no one outside of real NBA hardcore fans are aware of. The same could be said about the Grizzlies....they...just like the Pacers...made it all the way to the WCF but got their butts handed to them by the Spurs.
          Ash from Army of Darkness: Good...Bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

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          • #6
            Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

            We are on SportsCenter ever day after we play.... we arent getting ignored were just not being pampered, which I dont want to be. I like and want things to stay the same. I'd rather be under the radar.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

              The media attention (this story included) has really picked up recently. Hell, I even watched first take (or whatever Skip Baseless's show is) and they (with Legler) talk about the Pacers positively for like 20 minutes.
              PG24: "Don't tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon!"

              RT @Hoya2aPacer "When I play this game I love. I play to make my teammates better. But I'm a mouther****er on defense."

              Comment


              • #8
                The article is about the lack of accessible national TV games, not about buzz. Now, maybe the buzz will help get some games next year, but the reality is that unless we beat Miami we'll be back to square one with one of the Big Teams doing something hype-able thatt drives them to a couple dozen games.

                Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
                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


                • #9
                  Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                  Knicks games on ABC this year: 6

                  Pacers games on ABC this year: 0


                  The NBA is an absolutely pathetic joke with how it markets its teams, and no stat illustrates it better than the one I posted above.

                  Good article.
                  Last edited by Sollozzo; 11-09-2013, 11:29 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                    Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                    Knicks games on ABC this year: 6

                    Pacers games on ABC this year: 0


                    The NBA is an absolutely pathetic joke with how it markets its teams, and no stat illustrates it better than the one I posted above.
                    Business first. Problem is that so called sports writers watch the games that are convenient. And don't branch out too much. Thats how you get Roy Hibbert 10th in DPOTY voting.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                      Originally posted by Mad-Mad-Mario View Post
                      Business first. Problem is that so called sports writers watch the games that are convenient. And don't branch out too much. Thats how you get Roy Hibbert 10th in DPOTY voting.

                      But how smart is that business decision? The Knicks don't have much of a national following. They have never been one of the league's marquee teams. They have never had a true marquee star. They haven't won a championship in 40 years. They didn't even get to the Conference Finals last year. Outside of the NY metropolitan area, hardly anyone cares about the Knicks. They are getting these games purely because they are a big market team, and that's weak.

                      The NFL does a superior job of marketing its teams. Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football are distributed very fairly. Unlike the NBA, the NFL understands that there are more than 5 teams in the league.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                        Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                        But how smart is that business decision? The Knicks don't have much of a national following. They have never been one of the league's marquee teams. They have never had a true marquee star. They haven't won a championship in 40 years. They didn't even get to the Conference Finals last year. Outside of the NY metropolitan area, hardly anyone cares about the Knicks. They are getting these games purely because they are a big market team, and that's weak.

                        The NFL does a superior job of marketing its teams. Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football are distributed very fairly. Unlike the NBA, the NFL understands that there are more than 5 teams in the league.
                        But the thing is that the fanbases are different. Football is king. People watch MNF regardless of what teams are playing to a certain extent. People don't watch a basketball game just because its the only one on.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                          Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                          The NFL does a superior job of marketing its teams. Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football are distributed very fairly. Unlike the NBA, the NFL understands that there are more than 5 teams in the league.
                          Unlike the NBA, in the NFL they play football. It's a different sport and it's necessarily marketed differently. Beer and vodka are both alcohol, why are the commercials so different?

                          The league could put the Pacers on ABC eighty two times a season and it wouldn't matter, there's a ceiling to the interest this team is gonna create. I love the Pacers but they just don't have a strong narrative that is gonna make people want to watch.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                            Originally posted by Mad-Mad-Mario View Post
                            But the thing is that the fanbases are different. Football is king. People watch MNF regardless of what teams are playing to a certain extent. People don't watch a basketball game just because its the only one on.

                            Maybe, but the NBA never really tries anything different, so we really don't know.

                            I wouldn't be whining if for example, the Knicks had 5 ABC games to our 3. But the 6 to 0 ratio after we completely dismantled the Knicks in the playoffs is just a joke.

                            I get it to an extent. I understand giving a ton of games to the 90's Bulls, Lakers over the years, and Heat right now. All of those teams feature marquee stars and have been very successful. But the Knicks don't feature a marquee star and they haven't been very successful. They're only getting all of these games because of the size of the market they play in.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: The "Ninja" Pacers and Why Aren't People Watching Them?

                              Originally posted by Sollozzo View Post
                              Outside of the NY metropolitan area, hardly anyone cares about the Knicks. They are getting these games purely because they are a big market team, and that's weak.
                              They may not have a lot of supporters against the NY metropolitan area but they make excellent villains. Several people like to root against New York teams and that's enough to draw decent ratings.
                              Originally posted by IrishPacer
                              Empty vessels make the most noise.

                              Comment

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