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I secretly root for the home-winning streak to continue every year and will be devastated when it ends. Secretly, because I don't want to jinx it. It was one of the things that kept me engaged during the PG injury year. I wish I were around tonight to watch the game and be active in the game thread, but I had other plans unfortunately. Good win! Let T.J. have some more minutes, yo!
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.
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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Bojan has gone to a new level. In all seriousness is there anything on the free agent market that would be an upgrade over bogie that we have a hope in hell of signing? He has been exceptional.
TJ leaf is showing some signs as well - has outplayed the other young guys of late but can’t get minutes as Nate hyperventilates whenever Thad is out of the lineup for 5 consecutive minutes. Surely we can make a concerted effort to find TJ some extra minutes against teams like Cleveland."I’m your favorite player’s favorite player. And it’s not enough for me for him to know that. I want the world to know that." -- Michael BeasleyComment
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What happened to the bat? Did it show back up?Comment
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I think giving Holiday, Sumner, and Leaf all their first major minutes around the same time really highlights their inexperience and weaknesses. Not only are they trying to get used to NBA speed and level of play, they are also trying to get used to playing together against lineups that have been playing together for 50+ games. If it was just one of them instead of both I think they would look a lot better as they would be more free to pick and choose their spots instead of being thrust into a bigger role than they are prepared for.Originally posted by festar35 View PostComment
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Before the season Pritchard(?) said sometimes Holiday and sometimes Sumner would be with the Mad Ants. And sometimes they'd be there together. But that plan went out the window when Holiday had the breakout game against Atlanta. And I think they were planning on Leaf and Alize alternating spending time in Fort Wayne. Leaf never ended up going. I think they should have stuck to their plan, the young guys could have learned to play together.Originally posted by Eleazar View PostComment
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Another very good game and an easy win. That makes it 5 in a row. Not bad at all without Dipo. Before I start talking about the younger players, I have to give kudos to Bojan, DC and CoJo. All of them were great tonight. Heck, CoJo almost had a triple double (10 boards, 10 assists, 9 boards). Now, on to the younger guys.
Myles: All of us were scared when he went down holding his knee. He was scared as well. That's what Agness said in a tweet that Myles told him. He was "scared more than anything". Agness also said that McMillan gave him a few minutes to see how he felt. Myles said that he felt fine after the game. For what is worth, he seemed fine to me as well. When Myles returned to the game I was focusing exclusively on him and how he was moving. I didn't notice anything to be off or for him to be favoring his left leg. He didn't take any shots in that short time-span (4 minutes and a half) but he did have 4 boards and 1 block. Especially in that block, I didn't see him second-guessing his jump or his landing. So, I think that everything is alright. He may miss some time if the knee swells up but I don't think that this is something that will affect his help long-term.
Now, let's talk about his play a bit. Myles is currently playing the best basketball in his career. In fact, he has been doing it for a while. He has been consistently good ever since Dipo first went down in that Atlanta game (and I'd even say that he was pretty good in the game before that against Miami when he locked up Whiteside in the second half). That Atlanta game was back in November 17th. So, Myles has been playing consistently well for almost 3 months now. Obviously, his scoring has vastly improved ever since Dipo went down for a second game in that Toronto game. The Pacers have played 9 games since then. In these 9 games, Myles has been following the following -> https://stats.nba.com/player/1626167...n&LastNGames=9
16.4 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.4 BPG, 1.6 APG and 1.4 SPG. He is shooting 55.8% from the field, 41.9% from 3 and 76% from the FT line.
Granted, the rebounding numbers aren't what you'd ultimately like to see but the rest of his numbers are spot on. Plus, in that 9-game stretch rebounding has never been a problem. In that stretch, we have the 5th best Defensive Rebound Rate in the league at 75.3% ( https://stats.nba.com/teams/advanced...n&LastNGames=9 ) and we're allowing the second Opponent 2nd chance points at 10.9 ( https://stats.nba.com/teams/misc/?so...n&LastNGames=9 ). So , even if Myles isn't grabbing these boards himself, he's making sure that the opposing bigs aren't grabbing them either.
His last 3 games are even better than that -> https://stats.nba.com/player/1626167...n&LastNGames=3
17.7 PPG, 4.3 BPG, 3.7 RPG, 1.3 SPG and 1 APG. He is shooting 73.3% from the field, 80% from 3 and 50% from the FT line (granted, only 2 total attempts, he has barely gone to the line). And he's putting up those numbers in only 23.9 MPG. Again, the rebounding numbers are low but it hasn't mattered at all since all games were blowout and he didn't play a lot of minutes. The scoring, the offensive efficiency and the block shots, though, are remarkable.
Myles is definitely a lot more confident in his offense right now. That helps him a lot. But that's not the only reason he's playing better. He's playing better because he's doing a much better job at recognizing mismatches. He is reading plays better than ever before. He knows when to press his advantage inside, when to shot-fake, when to flare out for a 3, when to drive on his opponent and when (and where) to pass. In other words, the game has slowed down for him. Obviously, he won't keep shooting 73.3% from the field and 80% from 3. The shooting numbers will revert to the mean when he cools of. But the understanding of the game is here now. And it's here to stay.
Domas: Another very good game by Domas. A nice 13/10 double-double off the bench. Domas struggled at the Florida part of the road trip but he has been very good in the last 4 games. He is a player that he can consistently produce. I know that he had 5 turnovers tonight but I don't really care. Two of them were offensive fouls which are dead ball turnovers and thus don't create good scoring opportunities for the opposing team while the others are turnovers before he was trying to make things happen. I don't mind them at all. Maybe Domas should attempt more 3s. He is shooting 61.5% in them after all. I don't want him to shoot as many 3s as I want Myles to shoot but it'd be good if Domas averaged about 1 3-point attempt per game. It would help open up his inside game even more, if that shot was taken under the right circumstances.
Leaf; Another very nice offensive game by Leaf. He doesn't play a lot of minutes but when he does he finds ways to score. He knows how to move offensively and he can get himself open. He also knows how to drive past his defender when they're flying by him to prevent a 3. He has value on the offensive end. Defensively, I saw him contest a shot pretty nicely again tonight. I think that he can do a decent job as a rim protector. Just don't make him move laterally a lot. He can't do that well. I believe that he can be a back-up big.
Sumner: Had a very nice drive and dish to Leaf at the end of the 1st quarter. The pass was 100% on point. He also had a steal. He didn't produce a lot in his 14 games but I still see him making plays here and there. He belongs in the league athletically and I believe he can develop into a good defender. Offensively, I see some promise for him as a playmaker. I also believe that he can be a good rebounder for his position. He is definitely very raw right now but the tools are there. I think he has a good shot, especially if he keeps working on his game. We haven't converted his contract to a full-time one yet so he may soon be heading back to Ft. Wayne. That wouldn't shock me, especially if we are acquiring Wes Matthews. Sumner can go to Ft. Wayne and keep working on his offensive game. Work on his shot, tighten up his handle and more importantly than anything find ways to score against NBA length. That's what he's struggling the most right now when he drives. He isn't used to that kind of length. He also isn't used to the speed of the game yet but that takes time. Sumner is definitely quite raw so we should be patient but I see potential here. I don't expect him to ever become a knock-down shooter but if he can become a wing that defends well, rebounds well and creates for others then he'll be pretty valuable for us.
Holiday: Yes, Holiday shot awfully. In general, he has been very inefficient ever since he rejoined the rotation in the wake of Dipo's injury. He has only shot it well in two games. Against Golden State (4/8 from the field, 4/5 from 3) and against the Lakers (7/10 from the field, 3/4 from 3). In the other 7 games, he is shooting a combined 11/50 (22%). Suffice to say, this is terrible. But I'm not worried about these numbers at all. Wanna know why? It's because he can get the kind of shots he wants. He can get where he wants on the floor and take those kind of shots. Yes, right now he is bricking those shots and he's bricking them badly. But he won't keep bricking them forever. His shooting form is great and his shooting numbers in college were also great (42.2% from 3 and 79.5% from the FT line, both career numbers). There's zero reason to think that Holiday will keep bricking those shots (like there is with Sumner who was never much of a shooter). To illustrate my point of Holiday getting where he wants offensively, I'll bring up three clips, all from tonight's game. Two of those clips resulted in misses but his ability to get where he wanted was still the kind of thing that you want to see out of a young guard.
Clip #1: https://stats.nba.com/events/?flag=1...0AST)&sct=plot
CoJo finds him in the corner and Delly gets up to him to prevent a three. Delly is giving him the baseline (to prevent him from going middle) and Aaron takes what the defense gives him. He drives baseline, explodes past Delly with a nice first step and leaves him watching as he finishes at the rim. That first step is an important tool for every scorer and Aaron has it.
Clip #2: https://stats.nba.com/events/?flag=1...0Shot&sct=plot
With around 47 seconds left in the quarter, this is a good opportunity for a 2-for-1. Aaron recognizes it and goes for it. He gets quickly to the 3-point line and after seeing that Domas is coming for a quick screen on the unsuspecting Blossomgame he throws a quick crossover and veers to the left. Blossomgame can't get past the screen, Žižić has dropped back into the paint and Aaron takes the wide-open 19 footer. Yes, he bricked it but he recognized quickly what needed to be done in this possession and did it (Domas obviously deserves credit for the great screen). How many times have you seen DC, CoJo and Vic make the exact same reads after a pick? A ton. It's the right read to make and it's something that the Pacers as a team are very comfortable doing.
Clip #3: https://stats.nba.com/events/?flag=1...Layup&sct=plot
Aaron gets the ball on the wing with 4.7 seconds left. He sees Thad posting up on Brandon Knight (a mismatch) but he also sees the shot-clock and knows that 4.7 seconds may not be enough to get the ball to Thad and then have him make a move in the post. He also sees that Marquese Chriss is right in front of him so he can't take the 3 right on. So, what does he do? He attacks the big's feet. He drives hard towards the middle and when Chriss attempts to cut him off he throws a behind the back dribble and gets past him. Brandon Knight reaches in as he gathers the ball but he holds on to it and floats it up with his weak hand. Larry Nance Jr. jumps to contest the shot (and does a good job at it, he wouldn't float it that far up if it wasn't for Nance being there and protecting the rim) but he can't reach it. The ball almost rolls in. This was not an easy move at all. It required quick thinking (reading that he can't get it to Thad and that he'd need to attack the big's feet and do it quickly to get a shot off) and good handles. Did it go in? No, it didn't but he was able to get a shot off that almost went in despite the circumstances.
That's why I don't care about his shooting numbers right now. I don't care because I see the above when I'm watching him play. I see an NBA player.Originally posted by IrishPacer
Empty vessels make the most noise.Comment
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Agreed but I want to point something out. The lineup with Holiday, Sumner and Leaf isn't getting consistently crushed. While those 3 are playing together we are averaging 9.3 points while our opponents are averaging 10 points. Yes, we are being outscored overall but it's not even for a full point -> https://stats.nba.com/lineups/tradit...mID=1610612754Originally posted by Eleazar View Post
The young guys themselves certainly look rough from time to time and I fully agree with you that playing them all together highlights their inexperience but as a whole it isn't a lineup that is getting crushed. It's a lineup that is mostly treading water.Originally posted by IrishPacer
Empty vessels make the most noise.Comment
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It seems like the result of the Vic injury lit a fire under him. He's playing so much more aggressively.Originally posted by Dr. Hibbert View PostI'd rather die standing up than live on my knees.
-Emiliano ZapataComment
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I didn't see the game but Sabonis played more minutes than Turner last night. Did Turner get hurt last night?I'm not perfect and neither are you.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the esteem of Elohim,
Ephisians 4: 32 And be kind towards one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as Elohim also forgave you in Messiah.Comment
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Yes. His knee buckled at the 9:46 mark of the 3rd quarter and he had to be taken out. He returned 5 minutes later and closed out the final 4 minutes and a half of the quarter. He didn't play in the 4th but that could be because the game was a blowout. Domas filled in with Myles when he went down and played until the 2:25 mark of the 4th quarter.Originally posted by sportfireman View PostOriginally posted by IrishPacer
Empty vessels make the most noise.Comment
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Bogie is averaging 16.8 pts on 49.5% from the field this year. That's pretty damn solid for a SF that shoots a lot of jumpers.Lifelong pacers fanComment
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Bogie has impressed me thoroughly. Obviously a rock solid 3 point shooter. But he has moves driving to the bucket I don't think we saw last year. He is playing all-star level basketball. Not superstar, but probably all-star reserve in the east. I also think he's under-rated and most wouldn't say he's an all-star. But he can play some D and he's got real talent on offense.Comment
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Bogie is killing it.
The only question is if he can also have this killer instinct against bigger teams when the playoffs start. He already had a huge game last year. The problem with Bogie is that in some games he looks like an all-star and in others he looks like a clusmy-10 day contract-role player"Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"Originally posted by Piston PrinceComment
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And that's because he's a really efficient scorer from everywhere. His 2-point FG% is 53.3% but it's not just that. Take a look at his shooting splits -> https://stats.nba.com/player/202711/shooting/Originally posted by pacers_heath View Post
There is only one shot area where he is shooting below 40%. That shot area is the "above the break 3" area and he is shooting 39.7% from there which is pretty damn close to 40%. He is obviously a great shooter from the corners (52.9% from the left corner, 47.2% from the right corner).
But let's focus on his numbers inside the arc for a moment. He is shooting 62.8% in the RA. That's a very good number. That's a better number than Luka Dončić (60.7%) and Paul George (60.2%). And it's not like he is doing that on limited attempts. No, Bojan attempts 4 shots in the RA per game (Dončić attempts 3.8 while PG attempts 4.6). Even Dipo shoots a far worse better at the rim. Dipo is at 57.2% in the RA this season (granted, Dipo was much better at it last season, he was at 66.8% which is a near elite mark).
But his shooting doesn't falter in the in-between areas either. He is shooting 41.4% in the non-RA areas of the paint. This is usually the post-up/floater/short jumper zone. That's the kind of shots you'll find here. It's not a very efficient shot area so the percentages there are naturally not all that high. The leader in FGAs from that area in the league? DeMar DeRozan. He attempts 5.4 shots from that area per game (Bojan attempts about 1.8 per game). DeMar's FG% on those shots? 43.4%. So, 41.4% may look like a mediocre percentage initially but it's not bad at all. Donovan Mitchell attempts 4.9 shots from that area per game and he is shooting 40.4%. AD attempts 4.4 shots from that area per game and he is shooting 44%. The only players who are really efficient from that area are bigs like Jokić, Ibaka and Valančiūnas (those 3 shoot over 50% from that area). D'Angelo Russell is also really good from that area (shooting 47.8% on 4.1 attempts) but he's an outlier among guards. So, yeah, 41.4%? Not elite but pretty good.
And then you get to the mid-range where he shoots 44%. It goes without saying that shooting 44% from the mid-range is a pretty good mark. David West made a living out of hitting mid-range shots and his numbers (in his Pacer years, at least) were always around 47%. And as we all know, David West was an elite mid-range shooter. So, once again Bojan's mark is pretty good.
You can even look at his shot types if you want. Once again, his lowest mark is pretty good. That's his percentage on jumpers which is 43.8%. If we were to compare that mark with David West once again we'd see that David West also shot around 44% on jumpers in each of his Pacer seasons. I know that mentioning West may seem weird to some of you because they are completely different kind of players (West being a bruiser PF and Bojan being a sharp-shooting SF) but I'm doing it for two reasons. The first is that they both were Pacers and we know their game very, very well. It makes for a better comparison when you can immediately think back to the shots that West was taking and making. The second reason is that the majority of West's and Bojan's jumpers are assisted. Bojan is largely used as a finisher in our offensive scheme. 76% of his baskets are assisted. He doesn't create his own shot a ton. That's why comparing him with West is more accurate than comparing him with someone like Dipo who largely creates his own shot.
Moving to the other shot types, you'll see that he is very efficient and that he is posting above 50% marks across the board. Even in less frequently used shot types like fadeaways, finger rolls and bank shots he is shooting high percentage. But those are not extremely important categories (even they are good indicators of his complete offensive repertoire). The second important category here are the layups. What's his percentage in layups? 56.3%. Is that good? Yes, once again, it's pretty good.
You'll see that I keep mentioning the word pretty good throughout this post. That's because it perfectly encapsulates Bojan's ability to score from anywhere on the floor. He is elite in a few areas and pretty good in all others. That makes for a complete scorer. He won't be the one creating the majority of his shots (he still creates 1/4th of his shots) but he will be the one who finishes a play and does it efficiently.Originally posted by IrishPacer
Empty vessels make the most noise.Comment
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No, but Batman did.Originally posted by RamBo_Lamar View Post"Nobody wants to play against Tyler Hansbrough NO BODY!" ~ Frank Vogel
"And David put his hand in the bag and took out a stone and slung it. And it struck the Philistine on the head and he fell to the ground. Amen. "Comment
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