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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 ___________"

"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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The Pacers ownership and front office are either incapable or not willing to make the decisions that will bring us a championship.

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  • #91
    Originally posted by Taterhead View Post

    But you dont expect them to sign anyone. So what happens then? We overpay another Doug McDermott, and then another Doug McDermott, until that space is gone and we are back to making excuses for the ownership and management. Because, we have to field a roster next year whether a top guy wants to play here or not. And the FO is gonna want to have something to sell the fans on, given their strategy and all.

    Its an endless circle of.....we dont have the money, we will have the money someday, but noone wants the money, so what average guy can we give too much money to so we can avoid drafting a guy who is actually worth the money? We can never trade the guys we sign because we always overpay. So we give them multiyear deals, because that makes sense.

    I guess Im just wondering what it is everyone likes about never beating the great teams that makes you so happy with this dead end approach? Everyone else beats the bad teams too, including the bad teams.
    This is a very good point. It’s kind of like the Groudhog day of mediocrity.

    Comment


    • #92
      Originally posted by Taterhead View Post

      But you dont expect them to sign anyone. So what happens then? We overpay another Doug McDermott, and then another Doug McDermott, until that space is gone and we are back to making excuses for the ownership and management. Because, we have to field a roster next year whether a top guy wants to play here or not. And the FO is gonna want to have something to sell the fans on, given their strategy and all.

      Its an endless circle of.....we dont have the money, we will have the money someday, but noone wants the money, so what average guy can we give too much money to so we can avoid drafting a guy who is actually worth the money? We can never trade the guys we sign because we always overpay. So we give them multiyear deals, because that makes sense.

      I guess Im just wondering what it is everyone likes about never beating the great teams that makes you so happy with this dead end approach? Everyone else beats the bad teams too, including the bad teams.
      My prediction is they offer Thad/Bogdanovic/DC 2 more years a piece, eat all their cap space on that and call it a day.

      Then we are going to hear about them no having options and that in 2 years is finally the time to do something.
      @WhatTheFFacts: Studies show that sarcasm enhances the ability of the human mind to solve complex problems!

      Comment


      • #93
        Originally posted by Taterhead View Post

        But you dont expect them to sign anyone. So what happens then? We overpay another Doug McDermott, and then another Doug McDermott, until that space is gone and we are back to making excuses for the ownership and management. Because, we have to field a roster next year whether a top guy wants to play here or not. And the FO is gonna want to have something to sell the fans on, given their strategy and all.
        I told you. We're going to trade for someone good. That has always been the Pacers way. Shrewd trades and internal development. That's how we get our best players. FA is for filling out our roster with decent starters and role-players.

        Originally posted by Taterhead View Post
        Its an endless circle of.....we dont have the money, we will have the money someday, but noone wants the money, so what average guy can we give too much money to so we can avoid drafting a guy who is actually worth the money? We can never trade the guys we sign because we always overpay. So we give them multiyear deals, because that makes sense.
        Ever since I started watching (2011) the only players that we have overpaid has been Monta Ellis and maybe Rodney Stuckey (not because the deal was big but because Stuckey was never able to be healthy). And both of those contracts were at the tail end of the Bird years where Bird had become an absolutely horrible GM that should have stepped down from his role 2 years earlier than he did.

        We never overpaid DG (he took a discount), we didn't overpay PG (he earned his money) and we didn't overpay Myles either (his contract is looking great right now and it will only get better). Plus, we have inherited an awesome team-friendly contract for Oladipo from OKC. There's a reason why our cap situation is good. It wouldn't be good if we were in the business of constantly overpaying our guys.
        Originally posted by IrishPacer
        Empty vessels make the most noise.

        Comment


        • #94
          I can relate to anyone here who says they're frustrated that our team isn't ready to contend. I'm impatient and want to see it happen as well.

          But what I think we all disagree on is exactly why we're not ready to contend.

          I've seen everything written here, from a cheap owner, to an ineffective front office, to a city that doesn't attract good free agents.

          I personally see something different:

          This is a team that is building towards contention, simply because that's likely the only viable way to do it given the market. Our franchise isn't all that different from most in that regard.

          I'd say we have found many, many great if not elite players in the draft without tanking. Hi Paul, hi Myles...

          I didn't go into the season expecting the team to contend. I think that's a year or two from now.

          I'm not sure that a "willing to spend owner" could have done anything about the choices we had through last season's free agency. Unless... well, you want to quibble about whether the FO should have given JJ Reddick a 2 year contract offer vs. a 1 year?

          I see a front office making way more good choices, than bad ones. Also a front office that has maintained maximum flexibility and has only locked up the best players on our team: Oladipo, and Turner.

          In order for us to get that next big piece, we're going to have either play like an emerging contender these playoffs (which is looking like a real possibility), or get lucky in free agency with a trade like the PG13 trade.

          Comment


          • #95
            Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post

            My prediction is they offer Thad/Bogdanovic/DC 2 more years a piece, eat all their cap space on that and call it a day.

            Then we are going to hear about them no having options and that in 2 years is finally the time to do something.
            If we fall short of the ECF (IMO, the true sign of being a contending team), and the FO simply re-extends all three of those three contracts, then I will start sharpening my pitchfork alongside you.

            I have been making a presumption that this is the last thing that'd happen... as we have set up these contracts this way very deliberately because we wanted the option to retool for the actual contending time window (which I've never presumed included this year).

            Comment


            • #96
              I guess it’s hard to complain, really. We’ve always had the best player on the planet standing in our way to the finals, either be it Jordan or LeBron. The Malace in the Palace team was close to being a sure thing, until... well.

              a good question would be...what if this years team was made up of the same players that took the LeBron heat to the limit and fell just short? Would that team be the team to beat in the east? Who knows?

              Comment


              • #97
                Originally posted by Handoverfist View Post
                I guess it’s hard to complain, really. We’ve always had the best player on the planet standing in our way to the finals, either be it Jordan or LeBron. The Malace in the Palace team was close to being a sure thing, until... well.

                a good question would be...what if this years team was made up of the same players that took the LeBron heat to the limit and fell just short? Would that team be the team to beat in the east? Who knows?
                Palace malice aside, the actual closest the Pacers got was in 2000 when they ran in to not 1, but 2 of the best players in league history.

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                • #98
                  Originally posted by docpaul View Post

                  This is a team that is building towards contention, simply because that's likely the only viable way to do it given the market. Our franchise isn't all that different from most in that regard.
                  This is a team that has 7 players on a 1 year deal. We aren't building toward anything. There is just as good a chance they they will sign a whole new crop of one year guys to fill out this roster. I just don't think you can say you are building toward anything with that much turnover every year.

                  You can't get champagne from a garden hose.

                  Comment


                  • #99
                    Originally posted by graphic-er View Post

                    This is a team that has 7 players on a 1 year deal. We aren't building toward anything. There is just as good a chance they they will sign a whole new crop of one year guys to fill out this roster. I just don't think you can say you are building toward anything with that much turnover every year.
                    Interesting take.

                    I get the sense that literally every player on this team would kill to stay a part of it.

                    I also get the sense that the FO wants to use this period of growth to audition people who would/should be a part of our period of contention.

                    That's the only rational explanation.

                    That is, unless you believe that all of those 7 players wouldn't have signed a longer term deal? I don't think that's the issue in any way whatsoever.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by vnzla81 View Post

                      My prediction is they offer Thad/Bogdanovic/DC 2 more years a piece, eat all their cap space on that and call it a day.

                      Then we are going to hear about them no having options and that in 2 years is finally the time to do something.
                      I see something similar. I see them at least bringing back Bogie for more money, citing his good season and the inportance of shooting. And I like Bogie actually and hope he stays, as a 6th man. But they will over pay him.

                      Thad too, because he is a fan favorite and good solid player.pwe cant afford tonlet these guys walk because we cant replace them in free agency. The Thad Youngs are looking for a role on a contender and most dont view us as a legit.

                      And thats enough to blow all the important cap space, even if they let Collison walk, which will leave us with enough to fail to impressany quality FA that will make a difference.
                      "Don't get caught watchin' the paint dry"

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by graphic-er View Post

                        This is a team that has 7 players on a 1 year deal. We aren't building toward anything. There is just as good a chance they they will sign a whole new crop of one year guys to fill out this roster. I just don't think you can say you are building toward anything with that much turnover every year.
                        There's a reason why we have so many players on 1 year deals. It is because we do not consider them part of our core. Our core is Oladipo/Myles/Domas and whoever of the young draft picks proves that he's good enough (among Leaf/Holiday/Sumner/Alize/Ike). This core isn't in its prime yet. Victor Oladipo has started entering his prime but Myles and Domas are still at least 2 years away from it. Our window to contend isn't this season and the way we've structured our contracts is proof of that. That window is in about 2 years from now when Dipo is 28 and our bigs are 24.
                        Originally posted by IrishPacer
                        Empty vessels make the most noise.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by docpaul View Post

                          This is a team that is building towards contention, simply because that's likely the only viable way to do it given the market. Our franchise isn't all that different from most in that regard.
                          You can look at the Utah Jazz as the model western conference mirror franchise to the Pacers. Not a destination, but manages to stay competitive consistently without tanking. The Jazz, much like the Pacers, have had a few near brushes but just fell a hair short. I look at the Jazz and the Pacers as near the model of what you do in a small non-destination market. They haven’t won, but they’ve come damn close and nearly always in the conference finals mix.

                          Its almost like all the people whining that the owner won’t take risks to contend had some sort of memory blackout in the early 2000s, where we took on talented but combustible personalities in an attempt to win one for Uncle Reg. It nearly worked... but instead blew up in our faces and resulted in the Pacers worst stretch of play since the 1980s.

                          Those were moves that were high risk that carried high potential rewards, and this wasn’t even that long ago. I don’t understand where this “ownership won’t take risks” stuff is coming from.

                          I firmly believe the complainers in this thread would be complaining regardless of the circumstances. It’s just a result of a general pessimistic and miserable outlook. What really is the alternative? Endless tanking? You really want to trade places with the Minnesota Timberwolves? Who has that even worked for?

                          Before someone says it, Golden State’s key players were all drafted outside the top 6. With Klay outside the top 10 and Draymond second round. Philly has yet to achieve anything (no more than recent good Pacers squads, 3 different ones over a 25 year span) who is the great tanking success story? There’s sure plenty of failure stories to go around.

                          If we aren’t doing it with a tank or a big time marquee free agent signing (which isn’t happening, and it has zero to do with Herb’s desire to spend) what exactly is the suggestion here? Make moves for the sake of making moves? Precisely what crappily run franchises do. Ugh.

                          Im not sure I’m properly summarizing my thoughts here but this thread kinda blows my mind, the team is pretty good and well positioned to succeed in the future unlike 80% of NBA franchises and I feel like I stumbled onto the Bizzareo Earth.
                          Last edited by Infinite MAN_force; 01-22-2019, 06:54 PM.
                          "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

                          - ilive4sports

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by Taterhead View Post
                            ……….. which will leave us with enough to fail to impressany quality FA that will make a difference.
                            Out of the free agents for next year, who will make a difference ??

                            Comment


                            • Originally posted by Taterhead View Post
                              What I am talking about goes back at least 15 years.
                              15 years ago the Pacers went 61-21 giving the team the number 1 seed in the East and the best record in the NBA. We had two All-Stars that year in Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal. JO was 2nd team All-NBA and 3rd in MVP voting. Artest was 3rd team All-NBA and 1st team All-Defense. 2 players that we would later sign or trade for were 2nd team All-Rookie.

                              Comment


                              • Originally posted by Eleazar View Post

                                15 years ago the Pacers went 61-21 giving the team the number 1 seed in the East and the best record in the NBA. We had two All-Stars that year in Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal. JO was 2nd team All-NBA and 3rd in MVP voting. Artest was 3rd team All-NBA and 1st team All-Defense. 2 players that we would later sign or trade for were 2nd team All-Rookie.
                                This is the exact team everyone is clamoring for! They existed not that long ago, had championship level talent but a risky combustible mix of personalities. It very well could have worked but instead failed spectacularly.

                                So much of this comes down to luck, there’s no magic wand.
                                "As a bearded man, i was very disappointed in Love. I am gathering other bearded men to discuss the status of Kevin Love's beard. I am motioning that it must be shaved."

                                - ilive4sports

                                Comment

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