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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.

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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 ___________"

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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:

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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Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era :)

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  • Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era :)

    http://www.vigilantsports.com/2017/0...acers-new-era/

    A little more than three months ago, Lance Stephenson was on his couch in Brooklyn rehabbing an ankle injury. He had just come off a part-time, non-guaranteed job — a 10-day contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

    He began the 2016-17 season with New Orleans. Played six games, needed surgery to repair a torn groin (ouch!), and was waived. Then, he joined Minnesota on a 10-day contract. Played six games, suffered a grade II ankle sprain, and did not get another contract.

    Stephenson longed to get back to Indiana. During his rehab, his representatives checked in with the Pacers each month to see if the time was right.

    “Man I could fit in so well right now,” he kept thinking…

    Stephenson, meanwhile, caught as many Pacers games as he could. He missed Indiana … “home,” as he calls it. He had sold the house from his first stint, but he still had plenty of roots and good friends in Indy. It’s where he grew up and where he earned his first paycheck. He stayed in touch with ex-teammates via text and video games.

    Then in late April, Stephenson’s iPhone rang. (Despite leaving Indianapolis in 2014, he had kept his 317 number.)

    “‘Hey, Lance … you ready?’

    “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m Born Ready. Don’t every ask me am I ready.’ So I got the call and I’m like, ‘I’m going back home?’ I was so excited.”

    Fast-forward to the end of July. To the near-west side of Indianapolis on a warm summer day. The Pacers were set show off their new branding, which included new uniforms, court design, and secondary logo.

    The first player to take center stage was Stephenson. Then four others joined him.

    Finally, the much-anticipated Nike uniforms were unveiled — first on video — and Stephenson served as the model.

    With so much roster turnover, just six guys remain from last year, Stephenson was the face of this new campaign.

    “It feels awesome,” Stephenson says of his new circumstances. “I’ve been working really hard and I can’t wait ’til this season starts. I’m just happy.”

    As Lance says, “The fans love Born Ready.”

    Although he has an endorsement deal with AND-1, you would think he’s with Nike for how much praise he gave to the new uniforms.

    Like they’re so light that “I feel like I got nothing on,” which led to laughter from the half-dozen media members surrounding him.

    Stephenson, by the way, is on an offseason health kick. He’s dropped six pounds and intends to lose seven more.

    “I’m almost there,” he said. “The game is changing. Everybody is quick, everybody is explosive running up and down. The game has definitely changed and I need to fit into that category.”

    The other real option to promote the uniforms would have been 21-year-old Myles Turner, who has been in the league for two seasons. At this point, he’s the only one seemingly guaranteed a starting position for 2017-18, but Pacers officials also don’t want to put too much pressure and responsibility on Turner just yet, despite him being mature beyond his years.

    Lance is electric, he’s captivating. You don’t want to turn away. His number one strength and number one weakness is the same: His emotion.

    “When Lance came back last year at the end of the season, he really gave a jolt of energy not just to the team, but also to the fan base,” Todd Taylor, the Chief Marketing Officer of the Pacers, said. “I think it’s interesting, there were differentiating opinions from both sides earlier on, but I think like all of us in like, when you have a little bit of perspective and distance, you find out that this is where you should have been all along. We love the edge that he brings, the energy. He’s been great in the community, he’s been great for us.

    Glenn Robinson III, who is from Gary, Indiana, understood all the love for Born Ready.

    “It’s crazy,” said teammate Glenn Robinson III. “I told him that earlier. I said, ‘No matter where you go in Indiana, you’re always loved.’ These people love him, like right now.

    “That’s what I love about his game and really respect about him. Every day he comes in with that amount of intensity.”

    Playing in six regular season games last spring, Stephenson provided the Pacers with a much-needed jolt of energy to an otherwise stale locker room. True team chemistry was absent all season. For whatever reason, and most likely too many guys with the same personality, they never clicked.

    With Stephenson and a late-season surge by Paul George, the Pacers won their final five regular-season games to secure a playoff spot.

    “We all know Lance is crazy,” Kevin Pritchard said in May after being promoted to president of basketball operations. “When we met with him, he was so hungry to get back here. And he was so appreciative to be back at the place where he had success. I think everybody felt the lightning bolt that came back into the arena when he stepped onto the court.

    “We don’t make the playoffs if Paul doesn’t amp his game up the last six weeks and we don’t sign Lance.”

    What the Pacers gave to Stephenson was confidence. Like none of the other five teams he suited up for, the Pacers allowed Lance to be Lance. Take the good with the bad, support him through and through, and allow for him to play with the ball.

    “When your teammates believe in you and the organization believes in you, the game becomes easy,” Stephenson said after signing a three-year deal to return. “… When you got a coach that is behind you and an organization that is behind you like that, you get your confidence back.”

    Across social media, there had been a push to bring Lance back. To bring him home. I must have received a question about him at least once a week. He had hoped for it to happen last summer, to no avail.

    Stephenson, the acting face of the franchise, is a good lesson on two fronts: Don’t leave a good thing, and be persistent. It ultimately paid off.

    “During the whole process, all of the Pacers fans were like, “Man, forget that team. Come here.’ So the whole time, Pacers fans were on me. ‘You’re going to come back, don’t worry. Just get through this year, you’ll come back.

    “And I’m here.”
    Sittin on top of the world!

  • #2
    Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

    Originally posted by 90'sNBARocked View Post
    The other real option to promote the uniforms would have been 21-year-old Myles Turner, who has been in the league for two seasons. At this point, he’s the only one seemingly guaranteed a starting position for 2017-18, but Pacers officials also don’t want to put too much pressure and responsibility on Turner just yet, despite him being mature beyond his years.
    I enjoy Lance as much as any fan, but this part is what I'm taking away from the article. Myles is naturally very charismatic and intelligent, while also being probably the most talented guy on the roster - this will be his team. But I'm REALLY glad the franchise is allowing it develop rather than forcing it upon him. He's clearly taken the initiative in many ways, and I think as he continues to develop, he'll grow into the role. He's certainly fiery on the court also and can play with tons of emotion. As that balances out and he harnesses it properly, it's going to help him take that team leader role.

    For now, Lance is the loudest, proudest Pacer we have, and he's the last tie to the ECF teams, so it makes some sense. Polarizing figures aren't always the best leaders, but they do generate buzz and interest - from Trump to Lavar to Pat McAfee, loud and outlandish gets a lot of attention. After last year's snooze fest, I'll take a season of entertainment from Born Ready, and let Myles take his time and take over this team when he's ready.
    It's a new day for Pacers Basketball.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

      You know that warm and fuzzy feeling many of you are feeling after reading that article. I feel none of that, none, zero, nada.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

        Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
        You know that warm and fuzzy feeling many of you are feeling after reading that article. I feel none of that, none, zero, nada.
        not even a smidgen ?
        Sittin on top of the world!

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

          What if lance came flying out the gate this year. Averaging 20/6/6 on the season. Leads pacers to the playoffs. Makes the all-star team. Not saying it will happen, BUT WHAT IF?!?!?!
          Lifelong pacers fan

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

            Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
            You know that warm and fuzzy feeling many of you are feeling after reading that article. I feel none of that, none, zero, nada.
            Have you been checked for a pulse recently?

            Seriously though, this team is going to have some struggles. When it does, it will certainly help if it also has some enthusiasm, energy, excitement and is entertaining. Lance helps to bring those things to this team. I can also picture him being the guy most supportive of the youngsters/rookies on the roster as they figure out their game. And that will be big.

            And, like it or not, he IS talented.
            Last edited by Tom White; 08-01-2017, 01:51 PM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

              Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
              You know that warm and fuzzy feeling many of you are feeling after reading that article. I feel none of that, none, zero, nada.
              I LOVVEE me some Lance. He's the straw that stirs the drink. He is also an absolute beast in transition. Expecting him to lead a team is asking for trouble, but he is most certainly a key ingredient to a winning culture.


              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                What I love about Lance is that he admits to the mistake of leaving Indiana and doesn't feel like Indiana owes him anything. There are not many players in the association who feel like they owe the community something.

                I'm onboard the Lance train.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                  I love that he's locked up for 2 full more seasons @ just $4.2 million per season. Bargain. And unless we don't want him (Larry's not in charge anymore) then he's going to want to resign & probably finish his career here. Lance turns 27 next month on the 5th. So he'll be 29 when he's due up. Lance is good enough to start but he's going to come off the bench....that's how deep we are. Can't wait for this season to start. First NBA preseason game is just 60 days away, September 30th MIN @ LAL

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                    Lance is going to break so many hearts this year. The mere fact that anyone would suggest that he's the face of the franchise shows how low we've sunk.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                      I'm thrilled to have a fun player to watch who wants to be here actually.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                        Originally posted by pacers_heath View Post
                        What if lance came flying out the gate this year. Averaging 20/6/6 on the season. Leads pacers to the playoffs. Makes the all-star team. Not saying it will happen, BUT WHAT IF?!?!?!
                        Lance isn't projected to start right now. If he somehow averaged 20 6 and 6 off the bench that'd be nuts

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                          Originally posted by Ace E.Anderson View Post
                          Lance isn't projected to start right now. If he somehow averaged 20 6 and 6 off the bench that'd be nuts
                          Serious question. Whose projection are you referring to? Has Nate or KP said something recently to confirm it?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                            Face of the franchise??? who's left? everybodys gone, somebody has to be!!! it will play itself out. he will prove to be worth the excitement and the headaches he brings or he will be flushed somehow. Whichever way it rolls, lots of people will be around to say, "I told you so!!". Again, as many have said, we were a bunch of underachieving boring players drifting toward the end of the season. It should be fun and much more exciting than last year. of course, excpectations are lower....

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Lance Stephenson — face of the Pacers’ new era

                              Originally posted by Unclebuck View Post
                              You know that warm and fuzzy feeling many of you are feeling after reading that article. I feel none of that, none, zero, nada.
                              Did he kick your dog or something ?? I can understand liking some players more or less than others, but your emotions on him are just ..... out there. Embrace it Bucko - he's here for at least 2 more years.

                              Comment

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