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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.

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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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Official 2019/20 NBA prediction thread (standings, awards, champion)

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  • Official 2019/20 NBA prediction thread (standings, awards, champion)

    It's that time of year. Time to put your money where your mouth is so to speak. Obviously injuries can change everything but assuming rosters pan out as they are right now here is my best guess. I don't feel real great about my west predictions. I have a feeling that the Pelicans might be better than I'm giving them credit for but damn the west has a ton of teams that should make the playoffs.

    Atlantic

    Philadelphia 76ers [2]
    Boston Celtics [3]
    Toronto Raptors [4]
    Brooklyn Nets [6]
    New York Knickerbockers

    Central

    Milwaukee Bucks [1]
    Indiana Pacers [5]
    Detroit Pistons [8]
    Chicago Bulls
    Cleveland Cavaliers

    Southeast

    Orlando Magic [7]
    Miami Heat
    Atlanta Hawks
    Charlotte Hornets
    Washington Wizards

    Pacific

    Los Angeles Clippers [1]
    Los Angeles Lakers [3]
    Golden State Warriors [5]
    Sacramento Kings
    Phoenix Suns

    Southwest

    Houston Rockets [4]
    San Antonio Spurs [8]
    New Orleans Pelicans
    Dallas Mavericks
    Memphis Grizzlies

    Northeast

    Denver Nuggets [2]
    Portland Trailblazers [6]
    Utah Jazz [7]
    Minnesota Timberwolves
    Oklahoma City Thunder


    Playoffs East

    1st round

    Bucks
    Pistons

    76ers
    Magic

    Celtics
    Nets

    Raptors
    Pacers

    2nd round

    Bucks
    Pacers

    76ers
    Celtics

    E.C. Finals

    Bucks
    76ers

    Playoffs West

    1st round

    Clippers
    Spurs

    Nuggets
    Jazz

    Lakers
    Blazers

    Rockets
    Warriors

    2nd round

    Clippers
    Warriors

    Jazz
    Lakers

    W.C. Finals

    Clippers
    Lakers

    NBA Finals

    76ers
    Lakers

    NBA Champion

    Lakers


    NBA AWARDs

    MVP

    Giannis Antetokounmpo

    MIP

    Caris Levert

    ROY

    Zion Williamson

    COY

    Frank Vogel

    6th man

    Eric Gordon

    DPOY

    Joel Embiid

    League Leaders

    PPG

    Antetokounmpo

    RPG

    Drummond

    SPG

    George

    BPG

    Turner
    Last edited by Peck; 10-12-2019, 03:07 PM.


    Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

  • #2
    East:

    1. Milwaukee
    2. Philadelphia
    3. Boston
    4. Orlando
    5. Indiana
    6. Toronto
    7. Brooklyn
    8. Miami
    9. Detroit
    10. Atlanta
    11. Chicago
    12. Washington
    13. New York
    14. Cleveland
    15. Charlotte

    1st Round:
    Milwaukee vs Miami
    Philadelphia vs Brooklyn
    Boston vs Toronto
    Orladno vs Indiana

    2nd Round:
    Milwaukee vs Indiana
    Philadelphia vs Boston

    ECF:
    Milwaukee vs Philadelphia

    West:

    1. Denver
    2. Clippers
    3. Utah
    4. Lakers
    5. Houston
    6. Portland
    7. Golden State
    8. Dallas
    9. San Antonio
    10. New Orleans
    11. Sacramento
    12. Oklahoma City
    13. Phoenix
    14. Minnesota
    15. Memphis

    1st Round:
    Denver vs Dallas
    Clippers vs Golden State
    Utah vs Portland
    Lakers vs Houston

    2nd Round:
    Denver vs Lakers
    Clippers vs Portland

    WCF:
    Clippers vs Lakers

    Finals:
    Philadelphia vs Clippers

    NBA Champs:
    Clippers

    Awards/Stats:

    MVP: Embiid
    MIP: Tatum
    DPOY: Giannis
    6MOY: Lou Williams
    ROY: Williamson
    COY: Steve Clifford

    PPG: Harden
    RPG: Drummond
    APG: Westbrook
    BPG: Turner
    SPG: George

    Comment


    • #3
      I expect the Pacers to be either 3rd or 4th in the east. I also expect them to win the first round. Not sure about the 2nd round. Much of this depends on how well Victor plays in the 2nd half of the season.
      Go Pacers!

      Comment


      • #4
        I forgot Assist leader

        Chris Paul


        Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

        Comment


        • #5
          Pacers make 5th seed & surprise in the first round behind Oladipo getting closer to 100%. Take Bucks to six or seven games in the second round resulting in one more season of being a tough out but not a contender. 20-21 is the year the Pacers core gets/stays healthy, key players mature and they become legitimately dangerous......

          Comment


          • #6
            Eastern Conference
            1. MIL
            2. IND
            3. PHI
            4. BKN
            5. BOS
            6. MIA
            7. TOR
            8. CHI
            --------
            9. ORL
            10. DET
            11. ATL
            12. NYK
            13. CLE
            14. WAS
            15. CHA

            Western Conference
            1. DEN
            2. LAC
            3. UTA
            4. LAL
            5. HOU
            6. GSW
            7. POR
            8. SAS
            --------
            9. NOP
            10. MIN
            11. SAC
            12. DAL
            13. OKC
            14. PHO
            15. MEM

            Playoffs- Eastern Conference
            MIL over CHI
            IND over TOR
            PHI over MIA
            BKN over BOS

            2nd Round
            MIL over BKN
            IND over PHI

            Eastern Conference Finals
            MIL over IND

            Playoffs- Western Conference
            DEN over SAS
            LAC over POR
            GSW over UTA
            LAL over HOU

            2nd Round
            LAL over DEN
            GSW over LAC

            Western Conference Finals
            LAL over GSW

            NBA Finals- LAL over MIL
            Finals MVP- A Davis

            MVP: Davis
            MIP: Sabonis
            6th Man: LouWill
            DPOY: Turner (3+ blocks)
            ROY: Zion
            COY: Malone

            Comment


            • #7
              Oh come on guys, there has to be more than just the few of us who are willing to say what is what for the upcoming season.


              Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

              Comment


              • #8
                I don’t think the Bucks will be as good as last year, Brogdon was a huge player for them, and now he is with us. We have improved our depth, length, athleticism, three point shooting, and gotten younger at the same time. PHI, IND, MIL top three seeds, PHI-IND conference finals. DEN, LAC, LAL top three in west. DEN-LAC conference finals. LAC beats the Pacers in a hard fought series. Kawhi and Co. prove to be to tough in the end

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by moran1985 View Post
                  I don’t think the Bucks will be as good as last year, Brogdon was a huge player for them, and now he is with us. We have improved our depth, length, athleticism, three point shooting, and gotten younger at the same time. PHI, IND, MIL top three seeds, PHI-IND conference finals. DEN, LAC, LAL top three in west. DEN-LAC conference finals. LAC beats the Pacers in a hard fought series. Kawhi and Co. prove to be to tough in the end
                  Bucks will be in the conference finals they still have Giannas and if his shot has improved then nobody will stop the Bucks in the East

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Ok, Bucks-Pacers in the conference finals 😃

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Motion Offense View Post

                      Bucks will be in the conference finals they still have Giannas and if his shot has improved then nobody will stop the Bucks in the East
                      I've given them the benefit of the doubt in my predictions, but I wouldn't be completely shocked to learn that they were knocked out before the ECF. I worry about Philly's spacing of the floor with a single plus shooter (Richardson) in their starting unit. However, if Philly finds a way to get some spacing and they match up with Milwaukee somewhere other than the Finals, I could see Mil going out. Their guard rotation is significantly weaker with the loss of Brogdon. Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews project as starters (we know about Wes starting. Pass.) with George Hill and Pat Connaughton backing. Plus Korver to spell and shoot threes. Not crazy about that backcourt rotation.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        It’s not to late to make your thoughts official. Where are my non pacer fans at on here? Kstat, shags, Ryan to name a few?


                        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


                        Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          East:

                          1. Milwaukee
                          2. Philadelphia
                          3. Boston
                          4. Indiana
                          5. Orlando
                          6. Miami
                          7. Brooklyn
                          8. Toronto
                          9. Detroit
                          10. Atlanta
                          11. Chicago
                          12. Washington
                          13. New York
                          14. Cleveland
                          15. Charlotte

                          1st Round:
                          Milwaukee vs Toronto
                          Philadelphia vs Brooklyn
                          Boston vs Miami
                          Orlando vs Indiana

                          2nd Round:
                          Milwaukee vs Indiana
                          Philadelphia vs Boston

                          ECF:
                          Milwaukee vs Philadelphia

                          West:

                          1. Denver
                          2. Clippers
                          3. Utah
                          4. Golden State
                          5. Houston
                          6. Portland
                          7. Lakers
                          8. San Antonio
                          9. Dallas
                          10. OKC
                          11. Sacramento
                          12. New Orleans
                          13. Minnesota
                          14. Phoenix
                          15. Memphis

                          1st Round:
                          Denver vs San Antonio
                          Clippers vs Lakers
                          Utah vs Portland
                          Golden State vs Houston

                          2nd Round:
                          Denver vs Golden State
                          Clippers vs Portland

                          WCF:
                          Clippers vs Denver

                          Finals:
                          Milwaukee vs Denver

                          NBA Champs:
                          Milwaukee

                          Awards/Stats:

                          MVP: Greek Freak
                          MIP: TJ Warren
                          DPOY: Giannis
                          6MOY: Lou Williams
                          ROY: ???? (should be Williamson but since he is injured, I don't know)
                          COY: ????

                          PPG: Harden
                          RPG: Drummond
                          APG: Westbrook
                          BPG: Gobert
                          SPG: George






                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Milwaukee vs Denver

                            I love it, the NBA's worst nightmare. The amount of complaining from NBA beat writers and bloggers would be enough to power the world for 100 years.


                            Basketball isn't played with computers, spreadsheets, and simulations. ChicagoJ 4/21/13

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Peck View Post
                              Milwaukee vs Denver

                              I love it, the NBA's worst nightmare. The amount of complaining from NBA beat writers and bloggers would be enough to power the world for 100 years.
                              Not the worst - both places are fairly nice in June and Milwaukee has a Big Hype player.

                              Now, Pacers vs. Suns, THAT would be a disaster.
                              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...

                              Comment

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