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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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How Paul George discovered the best version of himself in OKC

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  • #1

    How Paul George discovered the best version of himself in OKC

    Stop running plays for me.

    Donovan had studied hours of tape on George -- what side of the floor he likes to come off screens, where he likes to post, where he likes to run pick-and-rolls -- but quickly realized his new small forward thrived most within the rhythm and flow of organic basketball. "At times he's like, 'Stop -- just let me get it,'" Donovan said. "I had to learn him. I can watch things on film and say, 'Oh, that's a good play and he made that shot, let's run that,' but there's a lot more to it than that." George's offensive mantra -- let the game dictate where the shots come from, but don't force it -- fits well alongside Russell Westbrook, who toes the line between control and chaos. When Westbrook missed games earlier this season, some expected the Thunder's second star to ramp up his aggressiveness to fill the void. But that has never been George's approach.

    "I've always been a guy to just let the game come to me. Just play the game," George said. "If it's a shot for me, if I can make a play, create for someone else, I'll do that. A lot of times you run a play, everybody's watching, everybody's locked in, everybody's pulling over and it just makes the game tougher for me.

    "I like it when I can kind of manipulate and be on attack mode where they don't know what to do, as opposed to a play other teams [can] scout."

    There's no on/off switch waiting to be flipped with George; it has to come naturally. But once it's there, the surge can be overwhelming.

    THE FIRST BUCKET came much like the final one, off a designed out-of-bounds play, set up by Westbrook, with a pump fake to let a defender fly by. George's wing 3-pointer cut the Nets' lead to 13 with seven minutes to go in a Dec. 5 game in Brooklyn. In the moment, it felt like nothing more than saving some face in what was sure to be an ugly road loss.

    The next one came about 20 seconds later, after George corralled a defensive rebound, casually loped up the court and stepped right into another 3. Forty seconds later, another 3, this one coming after George curled around a Steven Adams screen and Westbrook hit him in stride.

    With Westbrook pushing, George kept going. A run-out layup. A backdoor alley-oop from Westbrook with George slapping the backboard as the ball flushed through the net. A Euro-stepping reverse. An and-1 in traffic. A driving, physical finish through Nets big man Jarrett Allen. George's entire offensive arsenal was on display.

    Just like that, it was a one-point game with 90 seconds to go.

    There have been memes and jokes about George the past few years since his "no OT tonight" Gatorade ad came out. Coming into that Nets game, he was infamously 0-for-14 in his career on go-ahead shots in the final 10 seconds of regulation or overtime. And with Westbrook known for clutch-time heroics, it was fair to wonder whether George might not get the final look, even while sitting on 22 points in the quarter.

    The Thunder's playcall was simple: a dummy pick-and-pop between Westbrook and George, with Westbrook drawing two confused Nets his way and hitting George on time and on target.

    George gave a subtle pump to let Spencer Dinwiddie fly by, composed himself and let fly on his first official game-winner. The tally: 25 points in the fourth -- really, in the final seven minutes -- the most ever by a Thunder player in a quarter. On the other side of it was Westbrook, scoreless in the fourth with only two shot attempts and five assists, four of them setting up George. Westbrook didn't just defer; he actively worked to keep George going. play 2:10 George's 25 in fourth quarter powers Thunder's rally.

    Paul George scores 25 of his 47 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead basket, as the Thunder storm past the Nets to win 114-112.

    "I wanted to try to get two guys on me, because I was gonna drive it," Westbrook said of the final shot against the Nets. "Exactly what I thought they were gonna do they did, and it freed up the guy that had 25 points in the fourth quarter. Easy decision for me."

    None of that happens without Westbrook's immense trust in George as a co-star. It's a two-way street that has been built from a season of ups and downs together but also a firm recognition of needing the other. Both have spent time in their careers with 10 defensive eyes on them in crunch time as a solo closer. Diversification distracts, and George and Westbrook have used each other's gravity to make the game easier for the other in critical moments.

    George put a lot of pressure on himself to hit those shots in Indy, though he shrugs off the crunch-time failures as simply a matter of the ball going in or not. But it helps having a secondary star to shoulder the stress.

    "We don't really put much pressure on it [now]," George said of OKC's fourth-quarter execution. "It's the same shot from the first quarter to the last quarter, it just comes down to if we make it or not."

    After George's game-winner against the Nets, a shot many were stunned Westbrook didn't take -- probably including the Nets, considering how they defended the play -- no one was happier than Westbrook. He interrupted George's postgame interview to dump multiple bottles of cold water on his teammate, celebrating the way anyone would who was excited for his friend.

    "He's just being himself," Westbrook said. "He's aggressive when he plays his pace. He can get any shot he wants, can score with anybody in the league. As you can see, he's been good all season."

    Normally operating under a "if you want it done right, do it yourself" principle, Westbrook has worked this season to refresh his playing style: getting off the ball more, searching for more efficient shots and often deferring to his All-Star teammate. He did it for Kevin Durant, and now he's doing it for George.

    "Russ is probably the most comfortable guy in those positions -- late-game positions," George said. "He's going to make the right play. And we trust him."
    Paul George is averaging career highs almost across the board this season with 24.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.2 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. Julio Cortez/AP Photo
    THERE MAY BE no greater endorsement than Russell Westbrook trusting you as much as he trusts himself.

    Westbrook, armed with an unwavering belief in himself to come through in every spot, spent the past couple of seasons as the Thunder's primary late-game option. Everything ran through him, and it was at his discretion who got a shot -- if it was even anyone but him.

    Westbrook and George played much of last season walking on eggshells, trying to find the right mix of playmaking between them, but they've spent the past year developing a strong bond. It's all paying off now for George, who is putting up the best numbers of his career in both counting stats -- he's averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals -- and analytics alike.

    "I think you'd be hard-pressed right now to find guys that are playing at a higher level than he's playing," Donovan said.

    George is third in the league in ESPN's real plus-minus, and second in RPM wins. Pick a stat and it's probably going to tell you George is at the top of his game.

    "I do, I do," George said when asked if he thinks this is the best he has ever played. "I think just the experience and not having to shoulder everything offensively, it's definitely helped as well.

    "But I do feel I've grown, and just been seasoned, just knowing how to attack, how to play off certain defenses. And just a different mentality." Rated PG-13 in the fourth quarter


    Paul George has seen his fourth-quarter numbers skyrocket compared to his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
    2015-16* 5.6 41.1 48.5 37.6 23.34
    2016-17* 5.6 44.7 51.4 34.2 20.83
    2017-18 4.7 39.6 49.6 39.0 19.95
    2018-19 5.9 50.7 61.0 44.1 30.21
    * member of Indiana Pacers
    Much has been made of Westbrook's crunch-time heroics -- and failures -- but he's no stranger to splitting responsibilities when every point matters late in games. In their final season together in OKC, Westbrook took 35 percent of the Thunder's total clutch-time shots, while Durant took 31 percent. This season, Westbrook is taking 32 percent of the Thunder's shots during crunch time, while George is taking 22 percent. That's a marked difference from last season, when Westbrook took 45 percent to George's 16 percent.

    And with the bump in late-game usage, George has turned into a final-frame monster for the Thunder this season.

    There has been a renewed tone all the way around, too. Against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, the Thunder were again in a spot where execution mattered. They had the ball down two with 10 seconds left and dialed up a play similar to the one that freed George for the game-winner in Brooklyn. play 0:30 Abrines can't connect on potential game winner.

    Russell Westbrook kicks it out to Alex Abrines, who puts up a 3-point shot with 0.4 seconds left and misses, sending the Thunder to a 118-114 loss vs. the Pelicans.

    Knowing it wasn't a guarantee Westbrook would keep the ball, the Pelicans stayed with George. Westbrook drove and, with Anthony Daviswaiting for an unstoppable-force-immovable-object collision at the rim, kicked it to ... Alex Abrines. Abrines, an excellent though often inconsistent shooter, was open but missed. Neither George nor Westbrook, however, second-guessed the decision after the game.

    "I think for myself, for Russ, we know we can't do it alone," George said. "We know we need these guys, and that's the only way we're gonna get to where we want to get to is if everybody is on the same page."

    THE BUZZWORD AROUND George this season has been "comfortable." Ask anyone around the team what the difference has been, and they note his increased comfort level and a stronger leadership role.

    A year ago, he was feeling his way around, learning teammates, learning coaches, learning trainers and medical staffs -- and learning about himself. George had stepped onto Westbrook's team, playing with a reigning MVP who had just become the first NBA player to average a triple-double in almost 60 years. (Westbrook repeated the feat last season and is doing so again so far this season.)

    Now, George has settled in. And after re-signing long term with the Thunder over the summer, the stability and assurance has given him a boost. He's secure in his place -- not only physically but mentally.
    "I have a goal to be the best player every time I touch that floor. Just be the best me."

    Thunder forward Paul George
    "I know who I am. [Perception] doesn't make me who I am," George said. "I just try to step on that floor and try to play as hard as I can. I have a goal to be the best player every time I touch that floor. Just be the best me."

    It's noteworthy that the best version of George has emerged in OKC. There is still some shock and curiosity around the league about George picking the Thunder and Westbrook over the Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James. But the fact is, George's star, ironically, may have a chance to shine brightest in OKC, which offered the appeal of a more equal footing with Westbrook, rather than playing as a bit piece to LeBron's constantly evolving legacy.

    The season is more than a quarter done, which is about the time MVP contenders start having their box scores and highlights tracked more intently. The proverbial is-he-in-the-conversation discussions are beginning to churn, and George is nudging his name somewhere on that list right now. He has often been left out of conversations that include LeBron, Durant and Kawhi Leonard, but George is a complete player who has always been regarded as one of the top two-way players in the league.

    The Thunder have bounced around the top of the Western Conference, propped up by the league's best defense -- led by George, who is also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate -- and are there despite Westbrook missing eight games.

    "I think everybody, whether they have team goals or individual goals, I think everybody would like to be the MVP of the league," George said. "But that's not what my focus is. My job is just to give everything that I have, play as hard as I can, and just try to win as much as possible.

    "If that makes me the MVP, then so be it."

    How Paul George discovered the best version of himself in OKC
    http://www.espn.com
    Paul George has added some fourth-quarter heroics to his MVP-level two-way repertoire. More important, he's earned the full trust of the Thunder's fearless leader.
    Sittin on top of the world!
    Tags: None
    • 1 like
  • #2
    Paul George will play incredible basketball for a month, then come some time in January he won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn. It's just who he will always be, IMO.
    • 1 like

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    • #3
      kinda over the top just cuz he made his first game winner

      Comment

      • #4
        PG is the basketball equivalent of the butterface. He’s got a trait suitors will want pretty badly, but he’s lacking something important that’ll keep it short term.


        Name-calling signature removed

        Comment

        • #5
          I'm really hoping him and Russ knock off the Warriors/Rockets. I think they have as good of a shot as anyone
          • 2 likes

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