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Rule #1

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

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

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"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:

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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

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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.

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Rule #10

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Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

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  • #1

    Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

    By Brian Windhorst | ESPN.com

    It seemed like July was a bit of a bad month for the Indiana Pacers, with Lance Stephenson bolting to Charlotte after what seemed like an unnecessary contract dispute and LeBron James signing with a division rival.

    Or maybe that's how the Pacers want people to see it.

    The Pacers made last season rather fascinating with their rapid rise and fall that was centered around sometimes unpredictable events and odd bouts of chemistry problems.

    But there was a core issue that no one associated with the team will deny: The Pacers struggled with life at the top of the standings after years of being the underdogs. And already, they seem to prefer to return to the more comfortable role.

    A bumpy past few months has put pressure on the Pacers to deliver, but Paul George says they can handle it.

    "With Lance being gone and everyone thinking this is going to be a rebuilding year for us," Paul George said during Team USA training camp this week, "immediately when LeBron went to Cleveland, that made them the front-runners."

    Which team will be the front-runner in the East is yet to be determined, depending on the Cavs' ability to finish a Kevin Love trade, how the Chicago Bulls' offseason additions come together and how the new-look Miami Heat roster works out. Also, by the way, James' repositioning broke up the team that put the Pacers out of the playoffs each of the last three years.

    But the Pacers, with a strong core led by George still in place, are certainly not rebuilding, right?

    "People do look at it that way," George insisted, perhaps even trying to sell it. "I've got a lot of pressure and I'm coming into this year and I'm ready to live up to that pressure."

    There's something else George may be trying to sell this summer. Generally, George was always a public supporter of Stephenson; they came into the league together in 2010 and grew together over the past four years. They kept in touch throughout Stephenson's free-agency process, which ended with him taking a three-year, $27 million deal with the Hornets over Indiana's five-year, $44 million offer.

    "Obviously, I wanted him to come back, we gained so much chemistry together," George said. "But I didn't want to make the decision for him."

    But how much did George and the rest of his teammates truly want Stephenson back? Frequently, Stephenson was the Pacers' best player, and there is no denying his talent. Team president Larry Bird said publicly and strongly several times he wanted to keep Stephenson, though the way the Pacers were so ironclad in their position even after Charlotte offered a relatively miniscule increase in annual salary made Bird's stance on the matter seem a little questionable.

    Frankly, many of the team's internal frustrations over the second half of the season could be traced back to Stephenson in one way or another. Though he was fearless defensively and endlessly aggressive, his penchant for "free-Lancing" offensively was a constant irritation to his teammates, as were his frequent on-court antics and off-court commentary that led to distractions.

    So, on one hand, George says losing Stephenson creates a sense of rebuilding and he wanted him back. But on the other, he self-evaluates his second-half struggles like this: "I was trying to get other guys going and get other guys in the groove. I was trying to find mine; a lot of times I was just hung out to dry."

    And when it comes to Stephenson's replacement, free-agent pickup Rodney Stuckey, George said this: "Stuckey is going to be a player that changes his whole career around. He's a system guy that fits right into what we do. He plays defense, he knows how to play the pick-and-roll. Stuckey is going to step right into [Stephenson's] role."

    Stuckey is no Stephenson -- the fact that the Pacers got him on a one-year minimum contract three weeks into July says enough about that. But George's references to Stuckey being a "system guy" are not fluff. Stephenson's bouts of ball-hoggery and periods of blatant stat-chasing were not part of the Pacers' system. Stephenson occasionally won them some games because he was impervious to some of the outside influences that weighed the team down, but it came at a cost.

    George truly does seem to regard Stephenson as a friend to this day, and he's not totally looking to shed blame for not achieving the Pacers' goal of reaching the Finals. His offseason workouts have been focused on playing closer to the basket and learning to create space by improving his footwork, techniques that need to be added to his game.

    And while he seems to talk in code a bit about what Stephenson's departure means, he is not looking to shed any responsibility.

    "The eyes are on me this year," George said. "I've got a lot of pressure and I'm coming into this year ready to live up to that pressure."
    http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11...-live-pressure
    "So, which one of you guys is going to come in second?" - Larry Bird before the 3 point contest. He won.


    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

    "The eyes are on me this year," George said.
    selfish ****

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

      Originally posted by tora tora View Post
      selfish ****
      That actually made me laugh. Im expecting a big year from PG and Hibbert
      "So, which one of you guys is going to come in second?" - Larry Bird before the 3 point contest. He won.


      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

        Stuckey had issue with coach after coach, but he's gonna come turn his career around playing for a coach who throws players in the doghouse all the time? He ball hogs because that's his entire game, but he's gonna come here and fit in better than a guy whose usage rate was in line with 3 others on the team? I would say PG is delusional, but it's PR speak and being anything other than positive doesn't really benefit him in any way.

        I also think the writer totally went off track by relating it back to Lance. Initially the article reveals that the biggest issue was in fact dealing with being the frontrunners, but they just couldn't resist going the blame Lance route, using the same rumors that are still unsubstantiated. You'd think since the guy is no longer with the Pacers that someone would have verified the gossip, but don't let that stop the hate train. Gotta extend that article somehow!

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

          Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
          Stuckey had issue with coach after coach, but he's gonna come turn his career around playing for a coach who throws players in the doghouse all the time? He ball hogs because that's his entire game, but he's gonna come here and fit in better than a guy whose usage rate was in line with 3 others on the team? I would say PG is delusional, but it's PR speak and being anything other than positive doesn't really benefit him in any way.

          I also think the writer totally went off track by relating it back to Lance. Initially the article reveals that the biggest issue was in fact dealing with being the frontrunners, but they just couldn't resist going the blame Lance route, using the same rumors that are still unsubstantiated. You'd think since the guy is no longer with the Pacers that someone would have verified the gossip, but don't let that stop the hate train. Gotta extend that article somehow!
          Wait, what coach throws players in the dog house? This isn't another Copeland reference is it?

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

            Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
            I would say PG is delusional, but it's PR speak and being anything other than positive doesn't really benefit him in any way.

            I also think the writer totally went off track by relating it back to Lance. Initially the article reveals that the biggest issue was in fact dealing with being the frontrunners, but they just couldn't resist going the blame Lance route, using the same rumors that are still unsubstantiated. You'd think since the guy is no longer with the Pacers that someone would have verified the gossip, but don't let that stop the hate train. Gotta extend that article somehow!
            It is Brian Windhorst that is taking PG's words and reaching a conclusion that several of us on this site have reached, it is not far fetched, it is likely the truth.
            So Long And Thanks For All The Fish.

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

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

              Originally posted by able View Post
              It is Brian Windhorst that is taking PG's words and reaching a conclusion that several of us on this site have reached, it is not far fetched, it is likely the truth.
              You know it's all just a smokescreen to cover the PG / Roy issues!
              Danger Zone

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                Originally posted by able View Post
                It is Brian Windhorst that is taking PG's words and reaching a conclusion that several of us on this site have reached, it is not far fetched, it is likely the truth.
                Several on the site reached the conclusion that it was Hibbert's fiance cheating on him with Lance, PG or both. Not a shred of concrete evidence for either claim, which leads a logical person to assume it is a fallacy, until proven otherwise of course.

                FWIW, it's been beaten to death but the guy who made the "selfish dudes" comment (which was, ironically, an inherently selfish thing to do) went on to be demonstratively selfish on the court. This is what I would consider--objectively--to be "not far fetched."

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                  Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
                  Stuckey had issue with coach after coach, but he's gonna come turn his career around playing for a coach who throws players in the doghouse all the time? He ball hogs because that's his entire game, but he's gonna come here and fit in better than a guy whose usage rate was in line with 3 others on the team? I would say PG is delusional, but it's PR speak and being anything other than positive doesn't really benefit him in any way.

                  I also think the writer totally went off track by relating it back to Lance. Initially the article reveals that the biggest issue was in fact dealing with being the frontrunners, but they just couldn't resist going the blame Lance route, using the same rumors that are still unsubstantiated. You'd think since the guy is no longer with the Pacers that someone would have verified the gossip, but don't let that stop the hate train. Gotta extend that article somehow!


                  Brian Windhorst is pretty knowledgeable about the pacers. He and Mike Wells wrote a pretty indepth article on May 28th 2014 about the pacers issues. I kept a copy of it for myself, but I'm sure it is still around here on pacers digest. And in fact Wells and Windhorst address the rumors

                  Here is a link to the article

                  http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2014...ning-questions
                  Last edited by Unclebuck; 08-01-2014, 01:54 PM.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                    yes, we deal so well with added pressure....


                    pretty blunt, that comment "Stephenson's bouts of ball-hoggery and periods of blatant stat-chasing were not part of the Pacers' system"
                    The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                      the hell's he talking about "hung out to dry?"

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                        Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                        the hell's he talking about "hung out to dry?"
                        You know, how he wasn't as involved in the second half. I mean, his November and December usage rates of 28.6 and 27.6 fell all the way in February and March to...28.6 and 27.7.
                        Last edited by PacersHomer; 08-01-2014, 03:31 PM.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                          Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                          the hell's he talking about "hung out to dry?"
                          I really just wish he'd stop talking, period.
                          2015, 2016, 2019 IKL Fantasy Basketball Champions - DC Dreamers

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                            Great. So instead of having a balanced team, PG is thinking its gonna be "The Paul George Show" for next season.
                            Being unable to close out a game in which you have a comfortable lead in the 4th Q = Pulling a Frank Vogel

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Paul George: 'A lot of pressure'

                              Originally posted by Heisenberg View Post
                              the hell's he talking about "hung out to dry?"
                              A guess... when a teammate yo-yo's the ball around for most of the possession, then passes it to you with with about 2 seconds left on the 24 second clock.

                              just a guess, though
                              The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

                              Comment

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