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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

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Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

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

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

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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What is the problem & What is your fix?

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  • #16
    Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

    it started when Lance got more freedom and the happier lance is with Lance, the worse the offense goes.
    2nd 5 are most impacted, he simply does not distri the ball anymore, once he has it, it's game over, he goes to the hoop, dribbles 15 seconds and gives a near impossible to catch pass to one of the 2 or 3 open players who then have 0.7 seconds to hoist something up.
    he averages something like 5 turnovers a game nowadays, as one of our coaches said at the half of the Magic game, "this harlem globe trotter stuff has got to end, they need to play basketball!"

    I couldn't agree more.
    So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

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    • #17
      Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

      Ball movement
      Lance show boating.
      Paul shooting.
      Turnovers.


      Slow it down, play inside out smash mouth bball.
      Attack the basket more, stop shooting so many 3's Paul G....you're not Kevin Durant.
      Play more players we have a full roster.
      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.

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      • #18
        Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

        Originally posted by able View Post
        it started when Lance got more freedom and the happier lance is with Lance, the worse the offense goes.
        2nd 5 are most impacted, he simply does not distri the ball anymore, once he has it, it's game over, he goes to the hoop, dribbles 15 seconds and gives a near impossible to catch pass to one of the 2 or 3 open players who then have 0.7 seconds to hoist something up.
        he averages something like 5 turnovers a game nowadays, as one of our coaches said at the half of the Magic game, "this harlem globe trotter stuff has got to end, they need to play basketball!"

        I couldn't agree more.
        Lance is partly to blame but you make it sound like he is the only reason. PG has to shoulder the blame first for having an awful shooting stretch and bad shot selection.

        Moreover, Lance is not at fault for Scola's bad play right now (can't hit a shot and committing turnovers) and Watson's shots not going in. It's a collective thing.
        Never forget

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        • #19
          Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

          Maybe these guys just aren't able to handle the success. All the media attention may just have gone to their heads. Two All-Stars, a 3rd that many feel should have been, on top of the standings, early talk of an MVP on the team, all the speculation about Lance and his $$$ and where that $$$ might come from, yada-yada ..........

          Distractions. They need to all sit down, watch Game 1 & 2 from the conference finals from last year and start to play like that again.

          Comment


          • #20
            Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

            Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
            Problem: Team needs a mental and physical break

            fix: allstar break
            But this is why some folks here would like to see the bench play expanded. If the starters are beat down and the 2nd unit has lost it's edge then Butler has shown to be a quality guy and frankly the poor shooting and defense from Scola should open the door for Copeland to get some time when Scola is not producing. I have to believe Frank thinks it would hurt team chemistry and he would know. I guess only Popovich can get by pulling vets and sitting them down when they're not playing right.
            You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

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            • #21
              Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

              Originally posted by CableKC View Post
              Would running more plays make a difference on the offensive end?

              It seems that we fall into the habit of getting into a situation where we dribble dribble dribble, move the ball around without any real purpose and then end up with less than 8 seconds left on the shot clock where the Player is left to create something out of nothing.

              Does this sound familiar?

              Cuz this appears to happen all too often.

              What you are describing can and often does happen when a team is running plays. Defenses are good, they know the plays the other team is running, they try to stop plays before they develope.

              So yes I do see that happen, but I contend it happens even when plays are called/run. So calling more plays IMO does not solve the problem.

              Changing topics. I think Frank Vogel's biggest weakness is developing a bench. He isn't very good at it. This topic probably deserves a lot more discussion, but don't have the time right now

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              • #22
                Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                I have my doubts about playing more players at this point in the season. Last year the complaint was platooning the squads. The big push this season,IMO, is to make Lance a more dominant ball handler/facilitator. We've done that, and at times it is close to great, at other times it gets out of control. Lance approaching double figure assists every game is countered by his averaging 4-5 turnovers, a lot of them totally unnecessary and through no defensive pressure at all. Behind the back, between the leg, and no look passes are nice weapons when under control. My fix is the same as a lot of others, 1. Stop the yo-yo dribbling while going nowhere. 2. Go back to the inside outside play. 3. Start the offense sooner in the clock.

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                • #23
                  Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                  poor ball movement and TOs are the major issues. Defense was good last night, but the offense was a big time struggle
                  Smothered Chicken!

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                  • #24
                    Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                    Travis Best would like a word.


                    Originally posted by CableKC View Post
                    Would running more plays make a difference on the offensive end?

                    It seems that we fall into the habit of getting into a situation where we dribble dribble dribble, move the ball around without any real purpose and then end up with less than 8 seconds left on the shot clock where the Player is left to create something out of nothing.

                    Does this sound familiar?

                    Cuz this appears to happen all too often.

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                      We're a great team when we share the ball and play from the inside out and we're not very good as a jump shooting team. Our big men aren't bringing the ball up so if our wings aren't giving up the ball when they're in position they can't score. You can put the lack of offense on Hibbert but I don't see it that way, it's on our wings and Vogel for not coaching them. I agree with Able that the freedom given to Lance has made us worse and I'm very concerned that he's becoming a net negative and I don't see Vogel changing his approach with Lance. Lance needs micro managed at this point, he needs a Larry Brown. To a lesser degree the same could be said for Paul. When we started the season I think Vogel or Paul said that we won't have anyone scoring 20 per game, we're just too deep. Well it's turning into the Paul and Lance show as the season progresses. These guys are jacking up way too many shots and both are getting sloppy with the ball. Lance primarily just looks uncoached to me and he really needs discipline and direction from his coach.
                      I think we could get more from our bench but Frank needs to change a little for this to happen. Last night was a good example. There was no reason to play Paul and Lance 38 minutes each with a combined 33 shots they way they were both playing while giving Danny only 20 minutes and pulling him while he was hot. Bynum might help but if our wings aren't giving up the ball to Hibbert why would they to Bynum. What I'm saying is we can't get more from our bench unless Vogel gives them the minutes and plays to their strengths. It wouldn't matter who we bring in if Vogel doesn't use them properly.
                      Why do teams tank? Ask a Spurs fan.

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                      • #26
                        Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                        Before I get into my theory I just want to say Granger is one of my all-time favorite Pacers.

                        With that being said, I think Granger could be a main factor to why our play has been so poor even when we win. My main argument is that our already slow 2nd unit is even more slow with him. When we had OJ and even S.Hill playing it seemed like the 2nd unit played at a much faster pace. Sure there were a lot of turnovers, OJ had a shooting slump, and S.Hill didn't bring much but the unit as a whole had much more energy. The biggest differences are C.J. and Scola seemed much more efficient without Granger and second unit's energy carried over to the starters. The second unit just seemed much more dynamic without Granger.

                        I'm not a great analyst and haven't looked much into the numbers but a quick glance at the records with and without Granger are similar (20-5 without and 20-7 with). The teams we lost to though are a bit different. Without Granger we lost to CHI, POR, OKC, DET, and MIA. With him we've lost to TOR,ATL, PHO (twice), DEN, ORL and DAL.

                        With Granger I think we match up better with the teams we need to worry about in the playoffs but we struggle against younger more athletic teams. Based on this I'm not sure we need to change much if anything. Granger will continue to improve, PG will get over the baby mama drama, we'll get some rest, and everything will be great.

                        It would be interesting to see a breakdown of team and player stats with and without Granger.

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                        • #27
                          Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                          Actually the biggest problem is the Pacers should never had went on and on about getting the first seed. We want, we need to get game 7 in our house...blah, blah, blah. Guess what? By making it such a big deal (though rediculous I know) I keep looking at the Pacers standing against the Heat. Sorry Pacers but you've created this monster and convinced me in your mind if you don't get Home Court against Miami you beleive you're gonig to lose.

                          My actual thinking is of course homecourt will help but I don't believe the Pacers have to pack it up and give up if they don't.
                          You know how hippos are made out to be sweet and silly, like big cows, but are actually extremely dangerous and can kill you with stunning brutality? The Pacers are the NBA's hippos....Matt Moore CBS Sports....

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                          • #28
                            Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                            Lance's body language, throwing down his arms and such, when he doesn't get the ball when he thinks he should is beyond annoying right now. I cannot imagine how peevish it has to be for his teammates.

                            A good long look in the mirror is what these guys need.
                            Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

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                            • #29
                              Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                              This team hasn't played well since the end of January when they went on their western road trip. They are only up 2 1/2 games over Miami and Miami is starting to pick things up so these guys need to wake up and get their crap together or they are going to lose home court. I hope someone can get this across to them.

                              I think all their issues start and end above the neck. These guys are not doing the things that made them successful early on. I think some of this is due to youth and ego and some of it is because they are mentally exhausted. I hope this all star break will allow them to come back focused and ready to finish strong.
                              "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."
                              - Benjamin Franklin

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                              • #30
                                Re: What is the problem & What is your fix?

                                I think most of us here agree on the primary concerns. Key players shooting poorly & inffecient on offensive end.Too many turnovers. I would also say the defense (while very good) is probably one level below the first 30 games of the season.

                                Fixes? I'm not sure.

                                To me the offensive system seems pretty simple and not overly sophisticated. Teams are able to anticpate what is coming and can prepare for it even with the limited practice time they have during the regular season. This will only get worse come playoff time. Mid-season is not the time to make big adjustments and given the already high rate of turnovers probably a poor idea.

                                Bottom line is PG, Lance & the bench will simply need to take better shots, shoot a higher % and turn the ball over less. Overall the team will need to win in the playoffs by regaining it's best defensive effort, rebounding margin & by pounding it inside.
                                Last edited by Downtown Bang!; 02-13-2014, 10:50 AM.

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