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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

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

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

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

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

Rule #1

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

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

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

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

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

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #2

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

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

The right places to do so are:

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

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

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

Rule #3

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

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

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

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

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

Rule #4

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

Rule #5

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

An example:

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

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

Rule #6

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

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

Rule #7

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

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

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

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

Rule #8

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

Rule #9

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

Rule #10

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

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Grantland's article on West's efficiency and usefulness

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  • #1

    Grantland's article on West's efficiency and usefulness

    It’s hard to come up with an anecdote that encapsulates David West. It’s not because he isn’t worthy of one, though. It’s more that his yeoman-like approach rarely contains standout moments. His production from game to game has the consistency of a metronome and, unfortunately for West, the appeal of one, too.

    Consistency can be a dirty word as far as branding is concerned, but there’s no denying that West’s ability to churn out points on a nightly basis has been invaluable for the Pacers all season. As his teammates — most notably Paul George and Roy Hibbert — struggled to adjust to the absence of Danny Granger during a dreadful first month, West was there to pick up the slack. According to NBA.com, through December 1, Indiana’s offensive rating without West on the floor was 88.3 — a number that would have made last year’s Bobcats, a historically bad team, look like a collection of offensive savants. Needless to say, the team’s 8-9 record over that stretch could have been much worse without West’s steadying hand.

    The Pacers’ current spot at 25th overall in offensive efficiency is still largely attributable to that early-season slump, and that December 1 date is no arbitrary cut-off point. That loss to Golden State coincided with George’s low point this season in his adjustment to being the primary perimeter option. Since bottoming out with an 0-for-7 showing from the field that night, the emerging forward has combined with West to boost Indiana’s offensive rating to 101.7, a number that would rank a more respectable 16th had it been the team’s mark from the start of the season.

    When watching George play, it’s easy to see how his combination of athleticism, handle, and shooting ability can be essential to a team’s offense. West’s unremarkable game, on the other hand, doesn’t give off nearly the same vibe. So while George slashes to the rim and unleashes jumpers from deep, his veteran counterpart operates from one of the trickiest areas to operate on an NBA court — the elbow.

    At any level of the game, the elbow area can be both a nightmare to defend and a nightmare to navigate. With the ball at that spot, offenses can run a host of actions — from isolations to two-man games — but the spacing is often cramped and the outcome of a possession starting at the elbow can often end with a long 2-point jumper.

    But catch a Pacers game and you’ll see West loitering around the left elbow like Taylor Swift outside her next boyfriend’s house. It’s an odd sight that gives the impression that the big man isn’t entirely engaged in the offensive proceedings, but in reality West is simply claiming the real estate where he does most of his damage.

    Like Dirk Nowitzki, in an age of “offensive efficiency” West is a throwback in that he relies on an accurate midrange jumper to be a highly efficient isolation scorer in an area that normally doesn’t allow for it. While the big German’s game is rather unorthodox, West’s isolation attacks from this spot consist primarily of jab-step jumpers and using raw power to muscle defenders deep into the paint for his patented half-hooks.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=VNy7eDWiYcA

    The word "flair" can’t be attributed to anything in the video above (or any part of West’s game), but it doesn’t stop him from being extremely effective. Sometimes the simplicity of his attacks makes it easy to overlook the nuance in his game. West, like Reggie Miller before him, has mastered the subtle art of the push-off. Unlike Miller, who used this maneuver coming off screens, West uses it against fronting defenders to great success.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=NRpugt8qQzc

    Though he’s proven plenty capable of doing so, West isn’t always just looking to score from this spot on the floor. A handful of times a game, West engages in pinch-post action with one of the Pacers guards.

    After catching on the elbow, George Hill, Lance Stephenson, and George will cut hard outside West and look to receive the ball on a cut or have him come back and meet them with a pass-and-follow screen or dribble handoff. There is really no limit to the timing or type of action two players can run from this spot, which means Pacers opponents will always find this interaction with West and his teammates extraordinarily difficult to scout.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Z0WoFhN3luw

    Perhaps the most important relationship on the floor is the one West has with center Roy Hibbert. Naturally, the elbow is a great spot for two big men to go high-low. With West possessing a threatening jumper, his defender is forced to stay close to him, opening up the paint for Hibbert, biding his time on the baseline, to flash to the middle of the paint (also known as a duck-in) for a quick catch-and-finish.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=m-qsetj98C8

    West posing a threat at the elbow also allows Hibbert to battle defenders one on one, right near the rim for offensive rebounds. It is a big reason why the Pacers center ranks sixth among all players in offensive rebound rate. At 7-foot-2, Hibbert has the height and length to win rebounding battles against most of his opponents, especially when they’re the only two players initially near the rim when the shot goes up.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=gEHard1xBEw

    Despite the emergence of George, Indiana’s hopes for a deep playoff run lie in the hands of West. In the team’s latest loss, to Brooklyn, West struggled mightily and the team produced one of its worst offensive showings in nearly a month. It was a prime example of his importance to the team’s overall success.

    If West can’t score, the team’s offense likely falls to a point where even their top-ranked defense can’t pick up the slack. Against teams like Atlanta and New York — both of which have players that match up well with West — this could spell serious trouble. Though the sample size has obviously been small, West has seen a huge drop in his production against those two teams, likely because Josh Smith and Carmelo Anthony (when engaged) have the strength and athleticism to make life difficult for the Indiana forward.

    Miami and Chicago, however, are different stories. West has proven that the Heat’s front line — sans Lebron James — can’t contain him. It’s been a big reason for the team’s success against the defending champs this season. Same goes for the Bulls, as Carlos Boozer is the opposite of a defensive stopper, and Taj Gibson, for all his great qualities, can’t match West in terms of sheer strength.

    An emerging superstar might be stealing all the headlines in Indiana, but it will be the veteran with the quietly effective game that determines Indiana’s fate this season.

    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...-of-david-west

    Not something new for us who watch him every other night but still good to know he's getting some acknowledgement from national media.
    Never forget
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  • #2
    Re: Grantland's article on West's efficiency and usefulness

    Nice.. Not to hijack the thread but check this out as well.
    http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...logy-available

    If this was money ball, Tyler would be a young Kevin Youkoulis. Dude get's the calls in a hurry.

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Grantland's article on West's efficiency and usefulness

      Originally posted by picasso View Post
      Nice.. Not to hijack the thread but check this out as well.
      http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...logy-available

      If this was money ball, Tyler would be a young Kevin Youkoulis. Dude get's the calls in a hurry.
      Did some quick math using the stats at basketballreference.com

      Tyler is 3rd in FTA/ FGA for players with 500 minutes or more. Here's the top 20 for reference:
      Reggie Evans 2.00
      Ricky Rubio 1.77
      Tyler Hansbrough 1.70
      Dahntay Jones 1.68
      Dwight Howard 1.52
      Kevin Love 1.36
      James Harden 1.30
      Ramon Sessions 1.23
      Ian Mahinmi 1.19
      Gerald Wallace 1.09
      Kyle Lowry 1.08
      Kris Humphries 1.00
      Omer Asik 1.00
      Derrick Favors 1.00
      Kevin Durant 0.99
      Alec Burks 0.98
      Tyson Chandler 0.98
      Eric Gordon 0.97
      Rodney Stuckey 0.96
      Carl Landry 0.95
      That makes him number 2 in percentage of Total Points from free throws:
      Ricky Rubio 0.40
      Tyler Hansbrough 0.38
      Dahntay Jones 0.37
      Ramon Sessions 0.33
      James Harden 0.33
      Reggie Evans 0.33
      Kevin Love 0.30
      Ian Mahinmi 0.29
      Kevin Durant 0.29
      Carl Landry 0.28
      Kris Humphries 0.28
      Dwight Howard 0.27
      Kyle Lowry 0.27
      Eric Gordon 0.27
      Jimmy Butler 0.26
      Marc Gasol 0.26
      Nene Hilario 0.26
      Gordon Hayward 0.26
      Tiago Splitter 0.26
      Rodney Stuckey 0.26
      And number one in FTA/ Assist:
      Tyler Hansbrough 8.67
      Ian Mahinmi 8.33
      DeAndre Jordan 8.17
      JaVale McGee 8.14
      Derrick Williams 7.14
      Dwight Howard 5.81
      Brook Lopez 5.64
      Nikola Pekovic 5.40
      Andre Drummond 5.25
      Kris Humphries 5.00
      Carl Landry 4.75
      Reggie Evans 4.75
      Greg Smith 4.67
      Tyson Chandler 4.60
      Omer Asik 4.45
      Derrick Favors 4.07
      Marreese Speights 3.83
      Kenneth Faried 3.83
      Kevin Love 3.46
      Anthony Davis 3.33
      You'll note that Ian and Tyler are both very good at this "skill". Our bigs off the bench love to take it to the rack regardless of what might be in the way.

      I wish I could get some advanced stats like FTA/ touches in the post. Actually, I'd really dig number of times blocked/ stolen/ turned over, as Tyler and Ian are not the most graceful of creatures.

      With as much time as they spend on the line, I wonder if we get the starters an extra timeout's worth of rest a game. Anyways, I could crunch numbers like this all day... but apparently my work doesn't share my dedication to Pacers stats. Back to work!
      Last edited by maragin; 02-14-2013, 01:57 PM.

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