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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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Pointing out the obvious

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  • #61
    Re: Pointing out the obvious

    Comment


    • #62
      Re: Pointing out the obvious

      Originally posted by rcarey
      Didn't we lose to the Bobcats...or the Hawks? I don't remember...I seem to recall some nice 30 pt blowouts with us on the receiving end.

      Maybe it's my 'weak' memory but I seem to recall that all of the blowouts did in fact happen with JO playing.

      -Bball
      Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

      ------

      "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

      -John Wooden

      Comment


      • #63
        Re: Pointing out the obvious

        Originally posted by Ultimate Frisbee

        Though I realize JO's worth (an awesome post threat), I would be very happy to acquire any of the following big men (and only big men need apply) in a deal for JO (with appropriate compensation) :

        Chris Bosh
        Rasheed Wallace
        Ben Wallace
        Andrew Bogut
        Dwight Howard
        Dirk Nowitski
        Tim Duncan
        Kevin Garnett
        Andrei Kirilenko
        Elton Brand
        Shawn Marion
        Brad Miller
        How many of those guys would be more effective than JO at doing what he is asked to do? How many of them would be much better if we ran the same offence we ran when JO was healthy? I'd say Duncan and maybe Brand (howard in the future). Everyone else would require Rick to run a different offence or do the same thing he has been doing with JO - Try to make them into something they are not. IMO JO is much closer to being KG then he is Shaq. Ricks offence up till now has treated JO as if he was Shaq.

        For the record: I'd agree with Duncan, KG, Howard, Brand, Nowitzki, and Bosh I could maybe be convinced about AK. I just don't see them as realistic trade options. IMO, we need to play JO in a system he is suited for and see what we have.

        Comment


        • #64
          Re: Pointing out the obvious

          Originally posted by able
          Jon Theodore, you are a disgrace for a human being.


          That's not a fair comment at all.

          To say you largely disagree with his opinion, ok. But this?


          Word on the street is he doesn't want your money, he only wants to please your ears...
          Bum in Berlin on Myspace

          Comment


          • #65
            Re: Pointing out the obvious

            Originally posted by Hicks
            You know, I privately defended you at the start of this thread. But to keep this antagonism up and to call this place racist? Get out.
            Did he know you were defending him? Did you give him a chance to cool down before you banned him?

            If not then I don't think it's fair he got banned. There were some ugly/unreasonable things said to him. Stupid statements can ignite stupid responses and so on...
            Word on the street is he doesn't want your money, he only wants to please your ears...
            Bum in Berlin on Myspace

            Comment


            • #66
              Re: Pointing out the obvious

              Originally posted by rm1369
              How many of those guys would be more effective than JO at doing what he is asked to do? How many of them would be much better if we ran the same offence we ran when JO was healthy? I'd say Duncan and maybe Brand (howard in the future). Everyone else would require Rick to run a different offence or do the same thing he has been doing with JO - Try to make them into something they are not. IMO JO is much closer to being KG then he is Shaq. Ricks offence up till now has treated JO as if he was Shaq.

              For the record: I'd agree with Duncan, KG, Howard, Brand, Nowitzki, and Bosh I could maybe be convinced about AK. I just don't see them as realistic trade options. IMO, we need to play JO in a system he is suited for and see what we have.
              I think this is part of our dilemma. Something has obviously changed in the way the Pacers approach games since we've added Peja. We attack the boards much more often, I think partly to force the tempo; either we get an extra shot, or they try a fast break. I think it's going to be hard to get a gauge on how JO will perform in this new approach until he's healthy. Now, if he comes back and we go back to that crappy "dump it into the post and wait for magic" I would say trade him for a passing big man with a lesser post presence who will work within this new system we're running. This new approach utilizes our...depth. The old one didn't

              Comment


              • #67
                Re: Pointing out the obvious

                Originally posted by rm1369
                IMO, we need to play JO in a system he is suited for and see what we have.
                You are really hammering the issue home. I think moreso than saying that we need to play JO in a system more suited for him is finding out why we have continued to use him in the way that we have for as long as we have.

                That answer is probably the key to unlocking a lot of the questions and answers that have been asked in this and LA's thread.

                I'm not convinced JO is a "stat mongering whore" nor am I totally close-minded to the idea that JO 'requires' all these touches to keep him 'happy'.

                It's time for Mike Wells to do some investigative reportering for us and ask TPTB just why it is we "continually use JO like Shaq" and all the related questions about whether he'd be better off at a lighter weight and why we don't try/do something different with him.

                Mike, are you listening? Or if that is someplace he'd rather not go then maybe Kravitz can go there for us.

                -Bball
                Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                ------

                "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                -John Wooden

                Comment


                • #68
                  Re: Pointing out the obvious

                  Originally posted by Raskolnikov
                  Did he know you were defending him? Did you give him a chance to cool down before you banned him?

                  If not then I don't think it's fair he got banned. There were some ugly/unreasonable things said to him. Stupid statements can ignite stupid responses and so on...
                  i agree. it seems like a real quick trigger for someone who was flamed on as vitrolically as he was. i hope the big powers reconsider because it doesnt seem fair.
                  sigpic
                  "It's a league game, Smokey"

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    Re: Pointing out the obvious

                    Originally posted by abington
                    i agree. it seems like a real quick trigger for someone who was flamed on as vitrolically as he was. i hope the big powers reconsider because it doesnt seem fair.
                    I'm not sure if he did some stuff that we aren't aware of, and maybe that's factoring into him possibly getting banned for this. The admins are pretty quick to clean up/lock posts that are inappropriate or whatever, also, there may be PMs we're not aware of, and chances are we'll never know. I trust the mods/admins to do a reasonable job with making these decisions. Keep in mind, they're volunteers, not paid professionals.

                    My personal problem with Mr. Theodore is that he's constant doom and gloom. I've never seen him make a positive post in regards to this team, despite being a supposed fan. Certainly it's not a bannable offense, but he was a couple more Eeyore-esque posts from finding himself on my ignore list, and I'm a hard man to upset to the point that I'm willing to put you on ignore.

                    Comment


                    • #70
                      Re: Pointing out the obvious

                      its not JO's fault. Rick calls the shots. So hopefully when JO does come back, we would still play this type of offense and rotation which obviously wins games for us.
                      http://Twitter.com/dRealSource

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Re: Pointing out the obvious

                        Originally posted by denyfizle
                        its not JO's fault. Rick calls the shots. So hopefully when JO does come back, we would still play this type of offense and rotation which obviously wins games for us.
                        I really do feel that Rick thinks he's finally got the pieces to run the offense the same way the Pacers did in '99, but with even more transition to utilize our youth and athleticism.

                        Dominant post player? Check. (JO)
                        2 perimeter sharpshooters? Check. (Peja and...sometimes Jax)
                        1 PG with great court vision? Check. (Tinsley, when healthy)
                        1 scrappy rebounder/defender? Check. (Foster)

                        The similarities are striking, only this Pacers team lacks a LOT of the veteran poise that team had. However, they are a LOT more athletic, so it probably balances out. The only major thing that team had that this one doesn't is a PG who makes great, smart plays with the ball most of the time. Heck, I'd even take this team's bench over the '99 team

                        Comment


                        • #72
                          Re: Pointing out the obvious

                          Originally posted by Eindar
                          I really do feel that Rick thinks he's finally got the pieces to run the offense the same way the Pacers did in '99, but with even more transition to utilize our youth and athleticism.

                          Dominant post player? Check. (JO)
                          2 perimeter sharpshooters? Check. (Peja and...sometimes Jax)
                          1 PG with great court vision? Check. (Tinsley, when healthy)
                          1 scrappy rebounder/defender? Check. (Foster)

                          The similarities are striking, only this Pacers team lacks a LOT of the veteran poise that team had.
                          That's like saying "I've got a really fast race car... it just needs an engine"

                          Or... IOW.... Poise is not something that you can be short of ('veteran' poise or not).

                          That is one thing I think it looks like Peja is bringing tho... some poise. So things might be looking up there.

                          -Bball
                          Nuntius was right for a while. I was wrong for a while. But ultimately I was right and Frank Vogel has been let go.

                          ------

                          "A player who makes a team great is more valuable than a great player. Losing yourself in the group, for the good of the group, that’s teamwork."

                          -John Wooden

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Re: Pointing out the obvious

                            Originally posted by Jon Theodore
                            Mordecaii your post makes more sense than what anybody has posted in this thread. I am glad you took the time to post that. I've had a lot to drink tonight and Able's comments really pissed me off.

                            I'm sure I came off as immature, that doesn't bother me. What does bother me is how most people here are really not willing to hear opinions that do not coincide directly with their own. Able, as someone who is supposed to lead by example...you certainly aren't doing a very good job.

                            Thanks for your post mordecaii, there are actually intelligent individuals here after all.
                            Strongly disagree, what pisses people off about you is not your opinion, but THE WAY you try to make your point. That puts people off the wrong way.
                            Work on the way you bring your message and a lot of people might appreciate the content of your message a lot more.

                            Regards,

                            Mourning
                            2012 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                            2011 PD ABA Fantasy Keeper League Champion, sports.ws

                            2006 PD ABA Fantasy League runner up, sports.ws

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Re: Pointing out the obvious

                              Originally posted by Kstat
                              Some people need a lesson in tact.

                              Either that or take a deep breth, sheesh.
                              ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++

                              It would probably also help if Jon did not post when he was drunk.


                              owl
                              {o,o}
                              |)__)
                              -"-"-

                              Comment


                              • #75
                                Re: Pointing out the obvious

                                kellogg said..."Case in point...last year after the suspensions...the team righted themselves, Reggie looked 29 instead of 39, and they player OVER .500 ball. JO comes off the suspension, Reggie quits shooting, the ball is forcefed into JO, he takes the double and triple teams (and by the way JO is a horrid passer for a big man), and we get to see for the umpteenth time him taking the ball left on the low post, fake left, spin right for a baseline shot...and the team plays UNDER .500 ball after his return."

                                One of the worst problems with this offense is that it is a one shot and done
                                offense. The Pacers, when healthy have multiple big bodies who can
                                rebound well in a motion offense. I have been saying this for a couple years
                                now that JO should NOT be the leading scorer. He should be an offensive
                                facilitator and a rebounder and shot blocker. He needs to learn to block
                                out which he is very poor at. Rebounding is a team effort and requires
                                players to sacrifice occasionally by giving up the rebound to a teamate
                                because they blocked out.


                                owl
                                {o,o}
                                |)__)
                                -"-"-

                                Comment

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