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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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Indiana Pacers: What to expect from a Celtics playoff series

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  • #1

    Indiana Pacers: What to expect from a Celtics playoff series

    As the 2018-19 NBA season comes to a close, here’s a look at what the Indiana Pacers will need to do to be successful in a playoff series against the Boston Celtics.


    The Indiana Pacers have had quite the up-and-down season, peaking as high as the 3-seed and now on pace to finishing as the 5-seed in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been able to play pretty well through injuries to their star guard Victor Oladipo and against conference juggernauts like the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers.

    However, their first round matchup in this year’s playoffs is shaping up to be the Boston Celtics, who they’ve dropped two of three regular season matchups against this year. They’ll have one more chance to tie up the season series this Friday, but regardless of the outcome, they’ll have to buckle down and prepare to kick it up a notch if they want to beat Boston in a seven-game series.

    Here are three things the Pacers will need to have control over if they ultimately want to win their first playoff series since the end of the Paul George era

    3. Shoot the three-ball, and shoot it well
    The Pacers haven’t been known to light up the scoreboard on a night-to-night basis (although they have recorded some very high-scoring games this year), but when they do, it’s because their 3-point shots have fallen. Players like Bojan Bogdanovicand Darren Collison, who have shot the deep ball fairly well this year, can’t be afraid to pull the trigger.

    Bogdanovic in particular is having the best 3-point shooting and scoring year of his career. The Celtics have a very solid perimeter defense though, and will invariably make it tougher on him to convert the looks he normally gets from beyond the arc.

    Players like Wesley Matthews, Cory Joseph and even Myles Turner, who has added the long ball to his arsenal, will have to stretch out the floor and make the defense work. It nearly paid off in Saturday’s loss at the TD Garden–Indiana made 12 out of 27 of its 3s, and if not for a late Marcus Smart 3 and a last-second Kyrie Irving layup, the season series could be the Pacers’ to clinch right now.


    2. Have strong play from the bench
    The Pacers have largely relied on Domantas Sabonis to be the most productive player off of the bench this season, and it’s resulted in a potential Sixth Man of the Year campaign. But other bench players need to contribute and put up better numbers than their season averages show.

    Tyreke Evans (10.0 points per game), Cory Joseph (6.6 points per game) and Doug McDermott (7.0 points per game) all have the tools to add to the scoring party, but will likely face tough matchups on the other side of the ball in Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, to name a few. These Indiana players need to be on their toes, both literally and figuratively, against Boston’s offensive sets and use their length to make life tougher on all of Brad Stevens’ weapons.

    That isn’t to say Sabonis’ job will be easy, either. He’ll match up against Al Horfordand Aron Baynes, both of whom have inside and outside games to defend. Although Baynes can’t hit the 3 at the clip that Horford does, he’s shot (and consequently made) the most 3s of his career this season with the Celtics.

    1. Contain Kyrie Irving
    The most difficult task the Indiana Pacers have is to keep 2016 NBA champion Kyrie Irving under control. Irving has reached a level of superstardom that, when healthy, you can’t expect to totally stop, but simply contain and limit his opportunities.

    Even more dangerous than his scoring this season has been the rate at which he’s been assisting; he’s averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game and ranks eighth in the league in assist percentage, according to NBA.com. So even if there’s a plan to double-team him on a drive, chances are he’s looking for the next available teammate, and with many capable scorers on this Celtics team, it’s going to be tough for the Pacers with Kyrie at the helm.

    The Pacers have a myriad of options to throw at Irving, including Collison, Joseph, Evans and Wes Matthews, but none of them is guaranteed to stay in front of him on a given possession, as we saw on Saturday.

    Even more problematic is the decision to switch on screens, because even with a “small-ball” lineup that includes Thaddeus Young or McDermott at forward, Irving relishes the opportunity to attack a bigger defender. The Pacers’ best hope should be to trap Irving on screens, deny him a lane and limit him to contested, mid-range shots. All of that is much easier said than done, but if someone is going to put 30 points up on their defense, they can’t let it be Kyrie.

    The Indiana Pacers have a real chance to prove their legitimacy as a franchise returning to prominence if they can best the Celtics in a seven-game series. They’ve established an identity as a defensive-minded team, but have a formidable first test in Boston that they can’t underestimate, despite the Celtics’ underperformance this year.
    Indiana Pacers: What to expect from a Celtics playoff series
    https://hoopshabit.com
    As the 2018-19 NBA season comes to a close, here's a look at what the Indiana Pacers have to do to have a successful series against the Boston Celtics.
    Sittin on top of the world!
    Tags: None
    • 2 likes
  • #2
    Boston is frustrating for me, because they are under-achieving. Everyone had crowned these guys the new kings of the east when LeBron left, and yet here they are fighting us for 4th, despite having most of their guys for most of the season. I just don't like under-achieving teams, to me it's ********, that much talent shouldn't be here. And yet here we are likely going to their place for most of the series after they trailed us in the standings for most of the year. The home team has won every matchup between the two this season.

    With Dipo we likely would've maintained the 3rd seed and wouldn't even be facing these guys.... even if we did face them I feel like we would've beat them. But without Dipo and home court advantage, and with a number of guys ailing (Collison, Wes) and/or not playing their best (CoJo), and the rather egregious treatment by the refs over the last month, it's just hard to see us getting 4 against them. We basically need some guys to get back on the court and play their best ball of the season, and our guys fankly just look tired. But... been wrong before. Hoping for the best of course.

    Really this game tomorrow is going to be HUGE. It being at our place is a huge factor. The last thing I want to see is Flat-Earth going nuts on us I think whoever wins it will have HCA. And if we can manage to get it, I think our chances rise considerably.
    Last edited by Kid Minneapolis; 04-04-2019, 12:01 PM.
    There are two types of quarterbacks in the league: Those whom over time, the league figures out ... and those who figure out the league.

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    • #3
      Celtics in 6
      *removed* Just keep politics and religion completely out of it, please.

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      • #4
        First thing they need to do is get HCA
        • 2 likes

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        • #5
          Originally posted by Kid Minneapolis View Post
          . . . the rather egregious treatment by the refs over the last month, . . .

          . . . Really this game tomorrow is going to be HUGE. It being at our place is a huge factor. The last thing I want to see is Flat-Earth going nuts on us I think whoever wins it will have HCA. And if we can manage to get it, I think our chances rise considerably.
          Had to laugh at the first comment. Lot of that going on around the league right now. Popovich got tossed in 63 seconds vs the Nuggets. Durant got two techs last night from Zach Zarba, who is one of the really good officials in the league. Evidently players aren't the only ones tired of this season's officiating.

          Agree on the second point. Big game. All you can ask for is having the deciding game at home. If the Pacers can win out, then they get the 4th seed and HCA for the first round.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Downtown Bang! View Post
            First thing they need to do is get HCA
            I read somewhere our odds of winning the series are 47% as the 4 seed and 35% as the 5 seed. I'd say thats about right.
            Lifelong pacers fan
            • 1 like

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            • #7
              Originally posted by pacers_heath View Post

              I read somewhere our odds of winning the series are 47% as the 4 seed and 35% as the 5 seed. I'd say thats about right.
              I am a little confused by this info. That leaves 18% of the time that a 4/5 match-up is won by someone else. Shouldn't the numbers add up to 100%?
              • 1 like

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              • #8
                Originally posted by xIndyFan View Post

                I am a little confused by this info. That leaves 18% of the time that a 4/5 match-up is won by someone else. Shouldn't the numbers add up to 100%?
                They are independent of each other. For example, if we are the 4 seed we have a 47% chance and Boston has a 53% chance.
                BillS

                A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
                Or throw in a first-round pick and flip it for a max-level point guard...
                • 2 likes

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                • #9
                  Im still hoping the sxiers to loss all their remaining games and us to win the last 3 so we can get the 3rd seed.
                  Last edited by edc; 04-04-2019, 02:10 PM.
                  • 2 likes

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                  • #10
                    I just went through and counted . . .

                    Since 1975, when the NBA started 4-vs-5 first round match ups, the 5th seed has won 49 of the 88 series.

                    4th Seed: 39 Wins (.443)
                    5th Seed: 49 Wins (.557)

                    Surprising.

                    The 4-vs-5 series history shows no homecourt advantage, but I have a hard time believing it won't be a huge factor in this series, given how much better we are at home (.744 vs. .450).
                    • 5 likes

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                    • #11
                      Lets win against boston later so the 3rd seed is still alive.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        What to expect in a boston celtics indiana pacers first round series?

                        AN UNIMAGINABLE CELTICS *** BEATING OF A LIFETIME THAT'S WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRING EM ON!!!!!
                        Lifelong pacers fan
                        • 2 likes

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Mr. Mass View Post
                          I just went through and counted . . .

                          Since 1975, when the NBA started 4-vs-5 first round match ups, the 5th seed has won 49 of the 88 series.

                          4th Seed: 39 Wins (.443)
                          5th Seed: 49 Wins (.557)

                          Surprising.

                          The 4-vs-5 series history shows no homecourt advantage, but I have a hard time believing it won't be a huge factor in this series, given how much better we are at home (.744 vs. .450).
                          I would guess a lot of times the 4th vs 5th seed comes down to who was healthier during the season moreso than who is actually the better team. I'm willing to bet the difference is those times where a better, but unhealthy, team fell to the 5th seed then became healthy for the playoffs.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Eleazar View Post

                            I would guess a lot of times the 4th vs 5th seed comes down to who was healthier during the season moreso than who is actually the better team. I'm willing to bet the difference is those times where a better, but unhealthy, team fell to the 5th seed then became healthy for the playoffs.
                            I don't know how much this affects anything, but the NBA also used to guarantee the division winners the 3rd seed and then they changed that to the 4th seed. So some of those 3 and 4 seeds were actually fraudulent and may not have even had home court advantage in the 1st round.
                            • 3 likes

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                            • #15
                              Well. We're 1-3 against them this season. We lost 2 of those games over the last two weeks... and we're missing our best player. I expect nothing. I want us to win, but I don't expect it to happen.
                              Originally posted by Piston Prince
                              Bobcat fans telling us to cheer up = epic fail season
                              "Josh Smith Re-building the city of Detroit one brick at a time"
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