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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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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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All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

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  • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

    Originally posted by wintermute View Post

    Sure, either way is reasonable. I don't fault anyone for holding an opinion either way, but it's the guys who go "My opinion is right, yours suck" who as you say, fuel much of the discussion. Applies to people on both ends of the spectrum.
    Nah, this right here is what fuels the discussion.

    Originally posted by wintermute View Post

    Funny thing is, I thought we've been moving to a consensus over the last few pages. Even Ace admitted that Lance has talent. So the difference is in terms of degree, not in basic facts. I can live with that.
    Only took 165 pages, and 1015 references to strawmen.
    Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

    Comment


    • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

      Originally posted by Since86 View Post
      Nah, this right here is what fuels the discussion.



      Only took 165 pages, and 1015 references to strawmen.
      Well I distinctly remember Ace saying that, but if I'm wrong I apologize. I'll dig through old posts later if I have time.

      Comment


      • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

        I have no doubt you remember Ace saying Lance is talented. I think outside of 1-2 random drive by posters, everyone admits that. But unless you think Lance is AS level, you're a "hater" like those are the only two possibilities.
        Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

        Comment


        • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

          Originally posted by Since86 View Post
          I have no doubt you remember Ace saying Lance is talented. I think outside of 1-2 random drive by posters, everyone admits that. But unless you think Lance is AS level, you're a "hater" like those are the only two possibilities.
          And this is where my problem lies.

          Lance has been compared to a mini Lebron, Magic, J.Kidd and Gilbert Arenas. I know the comparisons aren't meant to be taken so literal, but the idea of where his talent and impact are certainly implied. If you dont think Lance is the second coming, you're criticized and labeled. Then when facts, stats, and scenarios are brought to the table, they're dismissed as being biased.

          When the entire board is beaten over the head with how big of a mistake it was to "let go" of the next surefire AS, and how irreplaceable Lance and his contributions are to the team, it serves for great discussion when his play is demonstrating pretty much the opposite.
          Last edited by Ace E.Anderson; 12-19-2014, 10:13 AM.

          Comment


          • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

            Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
            In many ways he is like a specialist who appears to be a generalist. Not a great shooter but he is a great penetrator, passer, rebounder he is great in the break and he is a pretty good defender. All things considered he is borderline all star. He smply needs shooters around him just as shooters need penetrators around them. But one thing you cannot deny is that this is a confidence league and he has all of he needs to perform at the highest level where many other players crack.
            I think Lance needs to prove he is STILL willing to work hard to ever come close to being a borderline All Star again. He clearly did not put in the effort to improve his game and it's showing this season. Even you have admitted his struggles have a lot do with not being prepared, not just the team he's on.

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            • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

              Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
              And this is where my problem lies.

              Lance has been compared to a mini Lebron, Magic, J.Kidd and Gilbert Arenas. I know the comparisons aren't meant to be taken so literal, but the idea of where his talent and impact are certainly implied. If you dont think Lance is the second coming, you're criticized and labeled. Then when facts, stats, and scenarios are brought to the table, they're dismissed as being biased.

              When the entire board is beaten over the head with how big of a mistake it was to "let go" of the next surefire AS, and how irreplaceable Lance and his contributions are to the team, it serves for great discussion when his play is demonstrating pretty much the opposite.
              But don't you dare compare Lance's 14ppg to Rodney Stuckey's 14ppg!!!!!! Don't you dare try and argue that Lance's 14pts are just as valuable as that cab driver's 14pts.
              Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

              Comment


              • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
                Lance seems to be more of a jack of all trades, master of none type of player IMO. If he's playing with guys that can garner the attention of the defense, then he's quite good at filling in the blanks, and taking advantage of opportunities/mismatches, especially on the weak side when defenses are scrambling.

                Its not really fair to say "Lance just needs shooters around him". We've never seen him play with an abundance of shooters, with him as the centerpiece, so we dont really know how well he would thrive in that situation. We can assume, but shouldn't automatically pass it off as fact.

                To call Lance a borderline AS right now would be to completely dismiss the type of season he's currently having. If someone wants to utilize last year as the end all be all for rating Lance, they should refer to him being a borderline AS in past tense. So far this year. It doesn't seem to be in the cards. It'll be interesting to see how well or poorly he plays once he's traded to a different team
                Here is a good representation. It has a mix of reasonable conclusions with extremes. I don't consider Lance to be the centerpiece. Paul George was and will be the centerpiece of the offense. To Ace, Lance is a guy who has not mastered any particular skills. He has a number of qualities where he fills in the blanks.

                If Lance isn't great at rebounding for a SG, I'm not sure what it takes. He led the entire team in rebounding last year.

                Lance also led the team in assists. Nobody wants to talk about that because that means he's sharing the ball and specifically he is very good getting a guy the ball in position for an easy bucket.

                Lance led the team in FG%. This is where he needs shooters to spread the floor. Last year he had PG and GH who are adequate 3 point shooters. This year he's bumping into Kemba Walker who cannot shoot the broad side of a barn from 3...except when he's the hero of course. Get Lance on a team that spreads the floor just a little bit, and his game improves.

                Lance is fantastic at the fast break, able to power through other players.

                Lance has fantastic energy.

                Lance handles the ball very well.

                Lance has the body to prevent pressure defense from taking it away. Recall the times when Miami's guards would smother even George Hill. George had serious problems bringing the ball up at times because he physically could not handle it.

                Lance has the height, strength and length to feed the post.

                I would not categorize all of these attributes as "great" but individually he is great at a few things and overall, clearly all-star caliber. The fact he is in an incredibly dysfunctional situation isn't going to blind me to the truth.
                Last edited by BlueNGold; 12-19-2014, 10:21 AM.

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                • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                  LOL All-Star caliber energy.

                  Comment


                  • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                    Originally posted by TinManJoshua View Post
                    LOL All-Star caliber energy.
                    Let's see how many others cherry pick one thing. That's really the main problem. People don't see the entire picture.

                    Comment


                    • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                      You're right. Lance is a great rebounder. Sorry I didn't say that before. Let me re-state:

                      Offensively Lance is a jack of all trades (which means he's versatile) but master of none...except rebounding. He's a great rebounding 2guard.

                      And as far as the big picture is concerned, out of the 3 seasons that Lance has received major playing time; last year was the outlier in terms of offensive production. Yet its still mentioned as the ONLY plausible gospel/standard for Lance. Not totally fair and can be considered just as short sighted.
                      Last edited by Ace E.Anderson; 12-19-2014, 10:37 AM.

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                      • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                        By the way, nobody leads the entire NBA in triple doubles without doing something great or being a really good player.

                        Comment


                        • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                          Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
                          You're right. Lance is a great rebounder. Sorry I didn't say that before. Let me re-state:

                          Offensively Lance is a jack of all trades (which means he's versatile) but master of none...except rebounding. He's a great rebounding 2guard.
                          How about assists? He led the Pacers in that category as well. He's not a league leader in that category but for a SG he has done very well. I'm not saying he's Chris Paul. Chris is a true all-star. Chris also cannot rebound like Lance...

                          Comment


                          • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                            Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                            By the way, nobody leads the entire NBA in triple doubles without doing something great or being a really good player.
                            Fat Lever and Darell Walker have led the league in triple doubles before. Also, Lance had the lowest number of triple doubles that lead the league, in the history of the NBA.

                            Not taking away from the very impressive feat, just giving some insight

                            Comment


                            • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                              Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
                              Fat Lever and Darell Walker have led the league in triple doubles before. Also, Lance had the lowest number of triple doubles that lead the league, in the history of the NBA.

                              Not taking away from the very impressive feat, just giving some insight
                              Fair enough. But did you know his assists/game this year are better than any Pacer? Even in that horrible situation.

                              Edit: with that said, Fat Lever had 4 years where he indeed was playing like an all-star caliber player. In any event, out of 50 players you found 2 who weren't considered great player. I will take those odds.
                              Last edited by BlueNGold; 12-19-2014, 10:49 AM.

                              Comment


                              • Re: All things Lance Stephenson thread for the next year or so

                                Originally posted by BlueNGold View Post
                                Here is a good representation. It has a mix of reasonable conclusions with extremes. I don't consider Lance to be the centerpiece. Paul George was and will be the centerpiece of the offense. To Ace, Lance is a guy who has not mastered any particular skills. He has a number of qualities where he fills in the blanks.

                                If Lance isn't great at rebounding for a SG, I'm not sure what it takes. He led the entire team in rebounding last year.
                                I'm not going to go through point by point, because they're all along the same vein. And the vein is this: The differences in opinion isn't about Lance's individual rebounding, but rather Lance's impact on TEAM rebounding.



                                And the Pacers rebounded better with Lance off the floor, they were a top rebounding team before Lance got PT, and they were a top rebounding team when Lance had a smaller role.

                                You elevate Lance's rebounding, not individually, but it's impact on his teammates. It's presented like without Lance, Pacers would be bad at rebounding. Like Lance's impact on rebounding is irreplacable. The Pacers are 2nd in team rebounding. They were 6th in team rebounding last season.

                                I'll throw in another example. Assists. Yes, Lance did lead the team in assists. Does that mean you can subtract Lance's assists numbers, and that's what it will be for the Pacers? Not even close.

                                Last year: 20.1 assists as a team per game
                                This year: 19.9 assists as a team per game

                                The difference? .2assists.


                                So once again, the difference falls in to how much value you place on individual statistics vs how big of an impact is in on the team.
                                Just because you're offended, doesn't mean you're right.” ― Ricky Gervais.

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