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The Rules of Pacers Digest

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Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Duarte

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  • Originally posted by Eleazar View Post
    I know I started playing around the age 5 or 6.
    That's when I started playing as well but the first few years weren't organized basketball so I'm not sure if that would count.
    Originally posted by IrishPacer
    Empty vessels make the most noise.

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    • Originally posted by Nuntius View Post

      A bit of an outlier, yes. He picked up basketball at 13 which means that he had 11 years of experience before we drafted him. That's the equivalent of a 19 year old who picked up basketball at 8 (which is quite common, I'd imagine).

      A true outlier, in my opinion, is someone like Kai Jones who only had 5 years of basketball experience before he was drafted (picked up basketball at 15 for the first draft, was drafted at 20). Duarte isn't quite like that but that's alright. He wouldn't be able to play as mature as he is playing if he was that kind of an outlier. He is more in-line with the typical 19-20 year old draftee than he is with the typical 24 year old draftees which is still a bit of an outlier (just not as big as Kai) and that's alright.
      You know of as well as I do that picking it up and actually getting solid coaching is another thing. You can look how many courts are in the DR. There are 3 FIBA courts indoors for the entire country. The guy didn't even know English coming to the states and I am sure that was a challenge in high school and college.

      Comment


      • Pacers' faith in older-than-usual rookie Chris Duarte pays off

        https://www.nba.com/news/pacers-fait...uarte-pays-off

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        • Originally posted by Nuntius View Post

          A bit of an outlier, yes. He picked up basketball at 13 which means that he had 11 years of experience before we drafted him. That's the equivalent of a 19 year old who picked up basketball at 8 (which is quite common, I'd imagine).

          A true outlier, in my opinion, is someone like Kai Jones who only had 5 years of basketball experience before he was drafted (picked up basketball at 15 for the first draft, was drafted at 20). Duarte isn't quite like that but that's alright. He wouldn't be able to play as mature as he is playing if he was that kind of an outlier. He is more in-line with the typical 19-20 year old draftee than he is with the typical 24 year old draftees which is still a bit of an outlier (just not as big as Kai) and that's alright.
          I think it's interesting that the common response would be too look at a guy who picked up basketball relatively late, and assume that he's behind in his development or perhaps doesn't have the same feel for the game.

          However, in one sense it's a potential advantage. It suggests you have a player who was able to overcome those disadvantages, be it through exceptional dedication to his improvement, passion for the game, or strong IQ for the game. It provides an indication you've got a guy who can learn quickly & may be especially inclined towards more growth and diversification of his game, now and throughout his career. Combine those individual qualities of hard work & quick learning (not just in basketball mind you but in other hurdles he's had to overcome w/ regards to language, relocation, and working his way up from a community college to Oregon) with a structured coaching system and you could have a recipe for a sustainable upwards trend.
          Last edited by OneMoreYear; 10-30-2021, 01:06 PM.

          Comment


          • Duarte's gonna need to cut out a few questionable shots if he wants his efficiency to rise. That said, I don't mind him taking those shots right now because he's a tough shot maker, and the team's going nowhere fast so we might as well let him figure out what he can and can't do. I feel like this offensive system is not getting our guys alot of good looks. Imagine Duarte on a team like Brooklyn or the Warriors? I think he'd be alot more efficient on a team with players that actually attract some attention. As of now, he's basically been one of the only guys the defense has to pay any attention to on the perimeter. That makes what he's been able to accomplish early in the season even more impressive IMO.

            Comment


            • Originally posted by CJ Jones View Post
              Duarte's gonna need to cut out a few questionable shots if he wants his efficiency to rise. That said, I don't mind him taking those shots right now because he's a tough shot maker, and the team's going nowhere fast so we might as well let him figure out what he can and can't do. I feel like this offensive system is not getting our guys alot of good looks. Imagine Duarte on a team like Brooklyn or the Warriors? I think he'd be alot more efficient on a team with players that actually attract some attention. As of now, he's basically been one of the only guys the defense has to pay any attention to on the perimeter. That makes what he's been able to accomplish early in the season even more impressive IMO.
              I feel the same way. It's insane that his 3pt percentage right now exceeds his 2pt.

              I think that'll also improve as he adds professional strength and conditioning. I don't think it's an accident that his inside game suffers the most right now while his shooting has largely carried over intact. He's not small, especially if playing as a guard, but he looks frail next to his competition which is unsurprising considering the combo of starting level role combined with a fresh outta the box rookie. Put it simply you don't often see someone with the sheen of "newness" on him being asked to do this much, but a time goes on her be able to assert himself against physical defenses. His frame will permit him to add some muscle and I think he'll be fine eventually.

              It could be good for him to start out strong, get dialed back a bit midseason to focus on his conditioning & then hit the end of the year with a strong second wind. He keeps up like this he's gonna need some downtime. I do NOT want to see him fatigued to the point of injury.

              He's very realistically our #1 option next year, and depending on what transpires this off-season, the team's cornerstone going forward.

              either way I think we're headed for a top 10 pick so we may as well start thinking about this team in terms of future core pieces. This will be the off-season of decisions, if we stand pat trans are gonna start to pick our bones as guys come due & it becomes more and more obvious this roster will be blown up... Must be proactive at the deadline/next summer & jump the gun making trades before our guys' values start to plummet. Give everyone parachutes and shove em out the door because i this plane is going down. Better do it before the buzzards start circling.

              If that's where this goes, I'd prefer to see BOTH Sabo & Turner moved/traded to improve our draft stock, and we move heaven and hell to get a true, all in one elite big next year seeing as this is the overwhelming strength of the upcoming draft.
              Last edited by OneMoreYear; 10-30-2021, 02:58 PM.

              Comment


              • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

                You know of as well as I do that picking it up and actually getting solid coaching is another thing. You can look how many courts are in the DR. There are 3 FIBA courts indoors for the entire country. The guy didn't even know English coming to the states and I am sure that was a challenge in high school and college.
                I agree with you when it comes to the infrastructure issues that you're raising but didn't he move to the US when he was 15-16?
                Originally posted by IrishPacer
                Empty vessels make the most noise.

                Comment


                • Originally posted by OneMoreYear View Post

                  I think it's interesting that the common response would be too look at a guy who picked up basketball relatively late, and assume that he's behind in his development or perhaps doesn't have the same feel for the game.

                  However, in one sense it's a potential advantage. It suggests you have a player who was able to overcome those disadvantages, be it through exceptional dedication to his improvement, passion for the game, or strong IQ for the game. It provides an indication you've got a guy who can learn quickly & may be especially inclined towards more growth and diversification of his game, now and throughout his career. Combine those individual qualities of hard work & quick learning (not just in basketball mind you but in other hurdles he's had to overcome w/ regards to language, relocation, and working his way up from a community college to Oregon) with a structured coaching system and you could have a recipe for a sustainable upwards trend.
                  When scouts say that a draft prospect picked up basketball late, it's typically thought of as an advantage. It means that the player has more room to grow since he still has a lot of stuff to learn about the game. Being polished is generally seen as a disadvantage because it tends to indicate that there not a lot of room for growth left. In fact, Duarte was knocked for having a rather polished game which led scouts to thinking that he doesn't have a lot of room to grow (along with his age, of course).

                  Were they right? Who knows? It remains to be seen. We're going to give him plenty of chances to prove himself and I'm glad to see that.
                  Originally posted by IrishPacer
                  Empty vessels make the most noise.

                  Comment


                  • Originally posted by Nuntius View Post

                    I agree with you when it comes to the infrastructure issues that you're raising but didn't he move to the US when he was 15-16?
                    Yeah I am pretty sure this is not the ideal time to learn a new language and try to learn organize ball. Typically these kids are funneled in pretty early in the US. Duarte himself said it was very challenging..

                    I use to be neighbors with the guy who ran clinics for the Pacers. They start early and I can not think of one sport where a coach would say it's good that they started at 16. Most coaches will only say this if the kids they get have jacked up fundamentals that they have to unteach.

                    The framework of our system and coaching is far superior to what Duarte got. I don't doubt he would of been coached up and entered the draft much earlier than he did if he was in the US and in a stable situation.
                    Last edited by Gamble1; 11-01-2021, 07:54 AM.

                    Comment


                    • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

                      Yeah I am pretty sure this is not the ideal time to learn a new language and try to learn organized ball. Typically these kids are funneled in pretty early in the US. Duarte himself said it was very challenging..

                      I use to be neighbors with the guy who ran clinics for the Pacers. They start early and I can not think of one sport where a coach would say it's good that they started at 16. Most coaches will only say this if the kids they get have jacked up fundamentals that they have to unteach.

                      The framework of our system and coaching is far superior to what Duarte got. I don't doubt he would of been coached up and entered the draft much earlier than he did if he was in the US and in a stable situation.
                      And many times inferior to what Lithuanian kids get....

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by Gamble1 View Post

                        Yeah I am pretty sure this is not the ideal time to learn a new language and try to learn organize ball. Typically these kids are funneled in pretty early in the US. Duarte himself said it was very challenging..

                        I use to be neighbors with the guy who ran clinics for the Pacers. They start early and I can not think of one sport where a coach would say it's good that they started at 16. Most coaches will only say this if the kids they get have jacked up fundamentals that they have to unteach.

                        The framework of our system and coaching is far superior to what Duarte got. I don't doubt he would of been coached up and entered the draft much earlier than he did if he was in the US and in a stable situation.
                        Yeah, he probably would have entered the draft much earlier than he did if he was receiving good coaching earlier in his life. I definitely agree with that.

                        Despite all that, though, his game is very polished right now. How much can it improve? That's the questions that the scouts were asking before the draft and that's what we'll see in the coming years when we watch him play.
                        Originally posted by IrishPacer
                        Empty vessels make the most noise.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Ozys Nepimpis View Post

                          And many times inferior to what Lithuanian kids get....
                          but that's offset by the fact they eat like raw potatoes and beets, resulting in sad deformities like stunted arm length

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                          • ^^^ and 20" verticals

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