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

Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

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

  • Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

    After watching last night's game I firmly believe the Pacers are a new team. Artest has such a huge effect on everything when he is on the floor, every single thing that happens he has a hand in. Of course not everything he does is positive, but you must admit he has a huge effect on every possession.

    I realize it was only one game and if you did not see the game you might not have a clue as to what I am talking about.

    But the team was very different last night.

    Let me count the ways.

    10 man rotation, something Carlisle said on his radio show Thursday night that they were going to.

    In this regards, I believe the second unit really missed AL Harrington, if Bender did not have such a good game, the second unit would have really struggled. I have thought for two years now that AL does not fit as well with the starters as he does the reserves. We'll see how that plays out.

    Reggie appears like he will get a few more minutes and shoot more. Most importantly he seems to be ready for it.

    Did you like Foster being on the court at crunch time. I sure did. Foster over the years has a knack for getting huge rebounds late in games, not that he doesn't throughout game and maybe rebounds only seem bigger late in games, but he IMO makes plays at the end that really help the team.

    Peck, you had to like what Foster did in the last 9 minutes of the game getting 8 rebounds and many of the tough position type that you claim Foster rarely gets.

    I see Freddie getting more minutes, because he will be on the floor every minute that Reggie isn't, before Ron went down Ronnie played shooting guard for about 6 minutes every game. Is Freddie ready, I think he is. He is now the Pacers best perimeter defender.

    Let's face it without Artest playing there are a lot more shots for everyone else, who should get those shots. AL might get a few, but I think Reggie will get the majority of those.

    Pacers are certainly not a better team without Ronnie, but they are a drastically different team, the ball movement will increase, it will have to because Artest created so many scoring plays for himself and for his teammates, that loss will really show up against the good teams late in games.

    Just realized in all this discussion I have not mentioned defense at all. Unusual for me, but I'll stop for now.

  • #2
    Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

    I see Freddie getting more minutes, because he will be on the floor every minute that Reggie isn't, before Ron went down Ronnie played shooting guard for about 6 minutes every game. Is Freddie ready, I think he is. He is now the Pacers best perimeter defender.
    Your observations are excellent.

    I wanted to comment on this: Defensively Freddie getting more minutes is great; But, offensively, I am concerned. He still has no confidence in his shot. Good news is, I guess, he will pass the ball.

    Speaking of passing the ball, JO was a little deficient in that area last night. His struggles offensively might have lessened had he effectively passed out of the double teams earlier and more often.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

      It was nice to see Reggie assert himself more.

      I think Al is actually better with the second unit simply because he plays on the same part of the floor as Jermaine. He is really Jermaine's backup not Artest's. It seemed like every time he was on the floor with Jermaine his play went down but when Jermaine was on the bench Al played better.

      Bender player very well with the starters in the first half but I dont see him getting the starting job over Al just yet.

      As far as Foster goes you know how I feel about him being on the floor at the end of the game from the amount of time I have spent *****ing about the games where he was not in there.

      Freddie is a good defender but I am not sure he is all there on the ofensive end. This may come down to poing guard because he never plays with Tins. I would like to see Kenny get AJ's minutes if for just one game. I would like to see how it afects Freddie before I decide on him. I do think he did a decent job on Stack when they were not getting fast breaks off of bad timed passes by a certain backup pg.

      I thought the Starters played very good D. Notice how most of Arenas' scoring came when Tins was not on him.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

        OK, I do want to comment on the defense and the overall approach for the team.

        Defensively: now we'll really find out if the Pacers defensive system is as good as I think it is. Pacers will have to help more on the great scoring small forwards and those that Ronnie guarded.

        The best thing Ronnie does is allow the Pacers as a team to play one-on-one and not double team or help as much on whoever Artest is defending. When i watch other teams defend players like T-Mac, Pierce, they double team and help much more than the Pacers do because they have to. That makes the Pacers a better defensive rebounding team and it makes the other 4 players better defenders.

        Pacers will need to concentrate more on the team defensive principles.


        Last night I noticed more enthusism from the players not in the game, the bench was on their feet more often and they seemed to be a more cohessive unit, from 1 through 12. That is what they will need.


        Two last things.

        Pacers will need more energy from every player. Ronnie's energy rubs off on his teammates, but without him every player needs to bring their own energy.

        At certain times in almost every game Ronnie through his effort and skill was able to cary the team for short periods. When the team was struggling it was often Artest who would get a steal, get to the free throw line, hit a tough shot and those plays enabled the pacers to stay in the game or maintain a lead or increase a lead. Pacers will need those type of plays from other players now.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

          I do think that guys like Pierce and T-Mac will have a feild day with the Pacers right now but I think we will be able to keep everyone else in line.

          If anything I think our offense might run a little better without Ron simply because he turns the ball over so much. Of course when he does he goes and gets the ball right back so there is no loss with his turnovers.

          I really think it is going to come down to Bender. If he can be the kind of help defender that he was last night we will be fine. His shot blocking really altered the game when he was in there. I know it was only a couple but what does not shot up in the stats is how many times the other team passes up close in shots in favor of longer jumpers when he is in there.

          With Both Jermaine and JB blocking shots it becomes a scary place in the middle for the other team. Add that to Fosters ability to get every simgle crucial rebound and the way he plays the passing lane and we can really get under the other teams skin and kill their rythem.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

            I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.
            Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
            Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
            Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
            Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
            And life itself, rushing over me
            Life itself, the wind in black elms,
            Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

              I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.
              Agreed. I was thinking that last night, that it would be interesting to at least try that.

              How 'bout it, Carlisle? Start JB and put Kenny in behind Tinsley and see what happens.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.

                I agree that it would help the team overall. But it won't happen because AL would not take iot very well at all, if he gets replaced in the starting lineup by a guy who has played 5 games this season.

                All Rick has to do is tweek the substitutions a little and play AL more with the reservers and Bender more with the starters

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                  I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.
                  I stare at your post and say: Do I dare dream that one day soon JB will be able to contribute as much, if not more, than Al.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                    I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.

                    I agree that it would help the team overall. But it won't happen because AL would not take iot very well at all, if he gets replaced in the starting lineup by a guy who has played 5 games this season.

                    All Rick has to do is tweek the substitutions a little and play AL more with the reservers and Bender more with the starters
                    I think your right he would not take it well but the way his knee was acting last night maybe Rick could sit him a game because of the knee and see what happens with JB in there.

                    Of course I want him to do this against the heat or some other lowley team.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                      A note about Freddie Jones and Jon Bender.

                      These guys, esp. Freddie, are the only ones on our team who seem willing to consistently drive straight in to the basket and create their own opportunity (other guys do this occasionally but not often enough - i.e. Tinsley and AL). This is an element to our team that I have found sorely lacking this year.

                      It helps us immensely to have guys like Freddie in there because he'll either score points, get fouled or force the defense to collapse, allowing the perimeter guys to get better looks.

                      Before last night I'd forgotten that Bender had this ability. It was nice to see and it adds another dimension to the team offensively.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                        I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.
                        I stare at your post and say: Do I dare dream that one day soon JB will be able to contribute as much, if not more, than Al.
                        Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
                        Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
                        Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
                        Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
                        And life itself, rushing over me
                        Life itself, the wind in black elms,
                        Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                          I think it will be interesting to see how we continue to play. I honestly don't think if we play to our full potential that there will be a lot of a dropoff. I think that we have the ability to compete with every team that we play with.

                          I want to talk about JO. He needs to get himself into gear, because he really isn't playing all that well. Not passing well, or having good shot selection. Too many jumpers, I think. I mean, it's good that he is making them and all, but the guy can dominate in the post. Why not play to the strength of your game, right?

                          As far as Freddie is concerned, I think he needs to be more aggressive offensively. Needs to penetrate more often and try to score himself instead of passing the ball all the time. Shoot the ball. I am sure that eventually the shots will start to go in on a consistant basis.

                          I want to see Bender continue how he played yesterday. Key word being want.
                          Don't ask Marvin Harrison what he did during the bye week. "Batman never told where the Bat Cave is," he explained.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                            I still think its possible that JB might temporarily move to the starting lineup so that Al can move back to the bench - the second unit needs him and I'm not sure he helps the starters *that* much more than JB could, right now.

                            I agree that it would help the team overall. But it won't happen because AL would not take iot very well at all, if he gets replaced in the starting lineup by a guy who has played 5 games this season.

                            All Rick has to do is tweek the substitutions a little and play AL more with the reservers and Bender more with the starters
                            Agreed.

                            As for the team, it's fun to see a different dynamic. After the All-Star break, it really becomes waiting for the playoffs to start for me. I know the team inside and out, we've played just about everybody in the league, no more trades to happen. Gets kind of boring. This spices things up.

                            Last night actually felt like a playoff game to me, because we have a lot more to play for then just what our final record will be. Hopefully the team will keep up this energy, cause we're gonna need it.
                            Come to the Dark Side -- There's cookies!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Well, how do you like the Pacers new team?

                              Am I the only person who thought Al did a good job defensively on Stackhouse?

                              I know Al has his problems but sometimes I think people are to hard on him & only judge him based on what he scores a game. I thought Al tried very hard to fit in to the system (which is what I've said all along about him) & not be disruptive on the offense, hence he took a grand total of 6 shots.

                              If he would have shot the ball 16 times people would say he was shooting to much, now he shoots 6 times & he isn't shooting enough.

                              I think putting J.B. in Al's spot would be a devastating blow to him & in this case I can't say as to where I would blame him.

                              He did turn the ball over to much & he didn't get enough rebounds for my taste, but I thought his defense was very good & I think he made it so that he fit in with the starters.

                              Also we don't know how bad his knee really is hurting.


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

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X