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

Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

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

  • BlueNGold
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
    He's basing it on looking at Lance's defense in it's entirety. You're right, Lance is a plus defender on the ball. In fact, Lance is very good on the ball and very good at containing penetration where he can utilize his strength and his length. He's definitely better at guarding bigger SF's than he is 2-guards where he can utilize his strength more and more.

    He is not quite as good against players that have a good second, or even 3rd offensive move - as his lack of lateral quickness hurts him here (see D.Wade) He also struggles against guys that spot up, move off the ball, and/or can spread the floor - as he tends to ball watch so that he can get into position to rebound.

    He's also not a guy that creates turnovers, blocks shots, etc.

    So what you have is a very very good on the ball defender, an un-disciplined off the ball defender, and a guy that doesn't create turnovers. Eleazar seems to believe (and I could be wrong) that Lance's off the ball defense averages out his on-ball defense - which equates to an average defender.

    Just my $0.02
    I generally agree with this, but it's a little unfair talking about Lance's defense when he is inevitably compared to Paul George who may be the best overall wing defender in the league. Nobody is in the passing lanes like Paul. In reality, Hill might even be a better defender overall but Lance is still above average. People need to realize that we had the best D in the entire league last year and all of these guys are above or well above average on D. That includes West and Hibbert.

    Leave a comment:


  • McKeyFan
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Question: with Waiters and Irving at odds and Cleveland open to another 2 guard, might Lance have found himself in contention for a spot on Cleveland had he not been such a thorn in Lebron's side?

    Leave a comment:


  • owl
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by Downtown Bang! View Post
    You guys obviously have a different definition of a power post team. Power post teams impose their will on other teams. They repeatedly go to their bigs on post-ups even when other teams know that is what they are going to run and they execute. There is no emphasis on posting wings & point guards (exactly what current team in the NBA emphasizes this in their offense??) and there is minimal deception required to get the post-up guys the ball. Good teams with this approach have personnel that carve out space, personnel that can deliver the ball and they catch the ball and go to work. The 2-games Bynum played last year was the closest anybody saw this team effectively run that offense.
    So very true. Now should the Pacers try and go inside out? Sure but last year teams packed the middle and dared the Pacers to shoot from outside. From three or two. Neither was very efficient. The Pacers need better shooters and they need some slashers but mostly they need some shooters to make teams pay for packing the middle.
    Roy can do better but unfortunately Mahinmi will never be an offensive threat. With Copeland and Rudez and hopefully a better PG that can be improved upon.

    Leave a comment:


  • cgg
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
    What are you basing that on? Lance is a plus defender, this is fairly well known.

    I'm not touching the rebounding thing, because you actually said Roy will average 2 more boards per game for the whole season. Bookmarked!
    Technically, he was one of three rotational players that the defense was better when he was off the court, with Scola and Turner.

    Leave a comment:


  • Downtown Bang!
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by xIndyFan View Post
    Being a power post team is more than just the big's posting. It is being able to post 1 thru 5 if a guy is defended by a minus defender. Teams get away guarding Paul with guys that are 6 inches shorter all the time. Just remember Danny before his knee injury. Put an undersized guy on him and Danny instantly took him into the post. Paul either couldn't or wouldn't use his height advantage last season. Lance has good size at the 2, but didn't want to post either. He'd rather use his size off the bounce instead. GHill can post guys, but no one ever seemed to be able to get him the ball when he did. Being a power post team means posting all your guys, not just your bigs.
    Originally posted by Pacerized View Post
    I couldn't disagree more with the last part of your post.
    Our offense was at it's most effective when we would play from the inside out. Very few teams can defend Hibbert and West in the paint. I know Hibbert struggled at the end of the season but he's shown that he can be effective when we include him in the offensive plan. Hibbert and West are also very good passers for big men. We need to establish our post game to start every game which will open up the perimeter and we have the tools to do it. Our struggles started when Vogel gave the reins to Lance and Paul which turned us into a jump shooting team.
    Originally posted by graphic-er View Post
    By crashing the boards and getting extra possessions. The 12'-13' team proved that can be successful. Hibbert has never been an efficient post player. But you get extra possessions and keep hammering. That team led the league in points in the paint. Led the league in Rebounding.

    Don't you think we were the easiest team to defend in the league last year? All we did was settle for pull up long jumpers. Teams made us one-dimensional and the Pacers were all too happy to shoot the same shots we want to force our opponents into.. Long range 2's.

    Thats why Vogel is the most maddening of coaches in my opinion. Defense: Cover the paint and perimeter and force long 2's. Offense: settle for long 2's. Even Scola and West's bread and butter jumpers were long 2's toward the end of the season because defenses were forcing our PnR higher and higher.
    You guys obviously have a different definition of a power post team. Power post teams impose their will on other teams. They repeatedly go to their bigs on post-ups even when other teams know that is what they are going to run and they execute. There is no emphasis on posting wings & point guards (exactly what current team in the NBA emphasizes this in their offense??) and there is minimal deception required to get the post-up guys the ball. Good teams with this approach have personnel that carve out space, personnel that can deliver the ball and they catch the ball and go to work. The 2-games Bynum played last year was the closest anybody saw this team effectively run that offense.

    Calling this team a power post team is like saying an NFL team that averages 3.6 yards a carry & can't convert short yardage is a power running team just because that is a scheme they try to run. The Pacers repeatedly tried to establish this type of offense last year with Hibbert & West and it failed miserably. The only time it has ever worked with any consistency is in the 2013 ECF against the defensively woeful Heat front line.

    Hibbert & West do need to score effectively in the painted area but those opportunities should not come off of power post entries. Those two are only going to be consistently effective game in and game out getting their touches by catching drop offs after penetration, duck-ins off the baseline (probably after penetration or excellent ball movement) and when slipping picks high to catch a pass on the move or faking picks low only to turn and catch the ball deep in the paint. Deception and action off designed motion is how these guys score effectively in the paint. This is not a power post game and because of the limitations of the two of them it requires they receive the ball at almost point blank range. Hibbert has his reputation as a underachieving offensive performer for a reason and there is also a reason West's nickname is the 18-foot assassin.

    I agree the team will need to focus on rebounding in order to get extra possessions and easy put backs. The problem with that approach is the Pacers advantage on the boards the last 2 seasons came from George, Stephenson & Hill not from Hibbert & West. All three of those guys rebounded at a very high rate for their position. Trouble is the best one (cue Lance stealing rebounds comments) is playing in Charlotte next year. It is worth the effort but I'm not expecting the same results with Stuckey & Miles.

    Leave a comment:


  • Eleazar
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
    So what you have is a very very good on the ball defender, an un-disciplined off the ball defender, and a guy that doesn't create turnovers. Eleazar seems to believe (and I could be wrong) that Lance's off the ball defense averages out his on-ball defense - which equates to an average defender.
    I think he is an ok on-ball defender, who can be an excellent on-ball defender when he tries. Yeah, he is poor off the ball. For him it is just about effort, and he doesn't always put in the effort.

    Leave a comment:


  • Ace E.Anderson
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
    What are you basing that on? Lance is a plus defender, this is fairly well known.

    I'm not touching the rebounding thing, because you actually said Roy will average 2 more boards per game for the whole season. Bookmarked!
    He's basing it on looking at Lance's defense in it's entirety. You're right, Lance is a plus defender on the ball. In fact, Lance is very good on the ball and very good at containing penetration where he can utilize his strength and his length. He's definitely better at guarding bigger SF's than he is 2-guards where he can utilize his strength more and more.

    He is not quite as good against players that have a good second, or even 3rd offensive move - as his lack of lateral quickness hurts him here (see D.Wade) He also struggles against guys that spot up, move off the ball, and/or can spread the floor - as he tends to ball watch so that he can get into position to rebound.

    He's also not a guy that creates turnovers, blocks shots, etc.

    So what you have is a very very good on the ball defender, an un-disciplined off the ball defender, and a guy that doesn't create turnovers. Eleazar seems to believe (and I could be wrong) that Lance's off the ball defense averages out his on-ball defense - which equates to an average defender.

    Just my $0.02

    Leave a comment:


  • Eleazar
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
    I'd agree if he routinely bageled in rebounding, but he doesn't. He's never been an elite rebounder, but he's never been terrible. He always had his ups and downs, but last season was especially strange because hibbert played the best and worst basketball of his career (like usual), but he timed it oppositely of how he usually does.

    If there's complaints to be had for hibbert, they can be made, but the worst game of his career is not the norm for his 6 years just because its embarrassing. Especially since he followed it up by averaging 20 points and 8 rebounds in his next 3 games.
    Yup, Paul George laid an egg once. He then went on to have a break out season, and get an All-NBA nod.

    Leave a comment:


  • aamcguy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by LeRyan07 View Post
    Doesn't matter. He is 7ft. How can u not grab 1 rebound? Idc about not scoring but not grabbing a single rebound? Trash
    I'd agree if he routinely bageled in rebounding, but he doesn't. He's never been an elite rebounder, but he's never been terrible. He always had his ups and downs, but last season was especially strange because hibbert played the best and worst basketball of his career (like usual), but he timed it oppositely of how he usually does.

    If there's complaints to be had for hibbert, they can be made, but the worst game of his career is not the norm for his 6 years just because its embarrassing. Especially since he followed it up by averaging 20 points and 8 rebounds in his next 3 games.

    Leave a comment:


  • BornIndy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
    You rang?
    Lol

    Leave a comment:


  • aamcguy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by LeRyan07 View Post
    Aamcguy
    You rang?

    Leave a comment:


  • BornIndy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
    Give me an example of a player in our team (you can even include lance in this one) that has never had a dud of a game. Restrict it to playoff games if you would like. Tell me that player exists and I'll take 5 minutes and find a terrible game or 2.
    Doesn't matter. He is 7ft. How can u not grab 1 rebound? Idc about not scoring but not grabbing a single rebound? Trash
    Last edited by BornIndy; 07-18-2014, 02:11 PM.

    Leave a comment:


  • aamcguy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by LeRyan07 View Post
    And there were also a couple of games the playoffs where he grab ZERO
    Give me an example of a player in our team (you can even include lance in this one) that has never had a dud of a game. Restrict it to playoff games if you would like. Tell me that player exists and I'll take 5 minutes and find a terrible game or 2.

    Leave a comment:


  • Eleazar
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by 3rdStrike View Post
    What are you basing that on? Lance is a plus defender, this is fairly well known.

    I'm not touching the rebounding thing, because you actually said Roy will average 2 more boards per game for the whole season. Bookmarked!
    Yes, because Roy hasn't ever averaged 8.6RPG or more in a season. He didn't average 8.8 and 8.3 RPG the previous two seasons. When I say he will he will average 2 more, I am saying I think he will average somewhere between 8.2 and 8.8 RPG. Pre-ASB he was averaging 7.7 RPG. Which is 1.1 RPG higher than his season ending average.

    (8.8 + 8.3)/2 = 8.55

    Leave a comment:


  • BornIndy
    replied
    Re: Zach Lowe on Lance and Pacer's loss

    Originally posted by aamcguy View Post
    What do you mean can't get 1? He averaged 6.6 for the year. While not a great number, George hill, Paul George, and lance Stephenson were all above average rebounders for their positions.
    And there were also a couple of games the playoffs where he grab ZERO

    Leave a comment:

Working...
X