PC Board OT thread

[ceiling raiser]

Would it be possible to extend the 100 day waiting period for the general board to the PC board? I wonder if it's worth considering.

The 100 day restriction on posting is a bad idea on the General Board that has failed to improve the quality of the discussion in any measurable way and that failed policy should not be extended to the Players Comparison Board.

The Players Comparison Board is the best basketball discussion forum on the internet that I have found but it is not perfect. It does have an echo chamber tendency due to our reliance on terms that are not clearly defined if new here and certain biases that are not proven conclusively to be correct. Excluding new posters will make that problem worse without any clear benefits.

The main impact would be to gradually shrink the number of posters on this board such that it resembles apbr should the 100 day ban on posting was added to the Players Comparison the board.

I think the bolded is a good point (I think it's always worthwhile to challenge conventional wisdom, so maybe having new faces around is important in forcing us to reconsider beliefs we held). Maybe this summer the board should make a concerted effort to come up with operational definitions and links to new research, perhaps a primer of sorts (with links to good threads to read first)?

[ceiling raiser]

Actually, I posted a thread on the feedback board, but just deleted it. Maybe I'm just overreacting to the same few guys who are here to rile posters up (who should be easy enough to ignore). There have been quality posters presenting great content soon after registration, so perhaps the cons do outweigh the pros.

[RSCD3_]

Would it be possible to extend the 100 day waiting period for the general board to the PC board? I wonder if it's worth considering.

The 100 day restriction on posting is a bad idea on the General Board that has failed to improve the quality of the discussion in any measurable way and that failed policy should not be extended to the Players Comparison Board.

The Players Comparison Board is the best basketball discussion forum on the internet that I have found but it is not perfect. It does have an echo chamber tendency due to our reliance on terms that are not clearly defined if new here and certain biases that are not proven conclusively to be correct. Excluding new posters will make that problem worse without any clear benefits.

The main impact would be to gradually shrink the number of posters on this board such that it resembles apbr should the 100 day ban on posting was added to the Players Comparison the board.

I think the bolded is a good point (I think it's always worthwhile to challenge conventional wisdom, so maybe having new faces around is important in forcing us to reconsider beliefs we held). Maybe this summer the board should make a concerted effort to come up with operational definitions and links to new research, perhaps a primer of sorts (with links to good threads to read first)?

A stickied thread with explanations of RAPM, other stats, useful links to sites with stats, and maybe a link to a FAQ topic on the stat board ( don't know if that is yet a thing.

All of this would help.

Mainly an Introduction topic or possibly the old one amended to have new information to new posters about key concepts/stats used on this board and where to find them.

[Quotatious]

A stickied thread with explanations of RAPM, other stats, useful links to sites with stats, and maybe a link to a FAQ topic on the stat board ( don't know if that is yet a thing.

All of this would help.

Mainly an Introduction topic or possibly the old one amended to have new information to new posters about key concepts/stats used on this board and where to find them.

Enable your PMs RSCD, so I can reply to your message.

[Texas Chuck]

Actually, I posted a thread on the feedback board, but just deleted it. Maybe I'm just overreacting to the same few guys who are here to rile posters up (who should be easy enough to ignore). There have been quality posters presenting great content soon after registration, so perhaps the cons do outweigh the pros.

yeah I'd say the best policy would be just to ignore the obvious troll artists and just keep reporting their OP's. Mods now have the ability to allow someone to post in a forum, but not start threads. But we have to help out our great PC Mods by making sure we report guys regularly so they know just how big a problem someone is.

But its not just new posters. Plenty of long-time posters have their agendas/blind spots as well. Heck I know I've made some posts on this board that I cringe to think about.

This is highest quality basketball forum I've ever run across here on the PC board and like you say--we've had some guys who came in from the jump posting great content.

[RSCD3_]

A stickied thread with explanations of RAPM, other stats, useful links to sites with stats, and maybe a link to a FAQ topic on the stat board ( don't know if that is yet a thing.

All of this would help.

Mainly an Introduction topic or possibly the old one amended to have new information to new posters about key concepts/stats used on this board and where to find them.

Enable your PMs RSCD, so I can reply to your message.

I'm ready. Haha

[Doctor MJ]

So are you saying then that if Aldridge does (2), and then signs elsewhere that that says nothing about his integrity? I can't get behind that.

No I don't think it automatically says something about his integrity at all. He can honestly look at multiple situations and really like more than one of them. And honestly say to both the Suns and the Spurs that I'm seriously considering taking your offer without him being some kind of head case or bad guy.

I get you don't like the guy, but I can't get behind your reasoning here at all. Teams take chances like this in FA every year with other players whom I sure give them good vibes and go elsewhere. Now if somebody pulls a Carlos Boozer absolutely question him all you want. But you appear to be singling out LMA here based on I'm not really sure what.

And I really don't understand why you insist that LMA has some sort of obligation to the Spurs just because they pulled the trigger on the Splitter trade.[/quote]

Stop with the "I get that you don't like this guy". To the extent i don't like him now, it's because of recent behavior, not the other way around.

I'm going to just try to get things as simple as I can here. My (2) option was "Aldridge doesn't say those words, but he says very positive things.", my (1) option was "Aldridge unofficially says he's coming."

Can we at least agree that if he said (1), it says negative things about his integrity?

If not, I think you're crazy.

If so, so then for you the key thing is that the guy has to literally say the words, even though they don't legally mean anything, and if he uses anything less literal, no matter how flirtatious, it's not an integrity issue.

My issue then is that I think in practice that's not how conversation works. We don't force people to say just the right words before we commit to going forward with them precisely because we know that the right words are still nothing more than wind if it isn't in writing, and hence the very nature of the discussion is based on the integrity of the two sides not misleading the other.

Put it this way: If you know a girl who has a tendency to get guys to break up with their girlfriends for her, and then says she just wants to be friends, there's a problem with this girl. Fine to say there were problems with the guys too, but there's some kind of a problem with the girl, and whether or not it's a pre-meditated thing, it is an integrity issue. The words and tone coming out of her mouth do not communicate her intentions, and appear to communicate very different intentions.

If to you that's not an integrity thing, that's fine, but it's a problem nonetheless.

[GSP]

Spurs have to be favorites now right? As great as Timmy has been man he has been so blessed since his rookie year.................West is def determined to leave the league with a ring. Taking $1.5 mill from Spurs instead of $12 mill from Pacers..........

[Doctor MJ]

Hopefully it is just a rumor but X's interest in Joe Johnson shows management does not understand how to build a team around Y or that they do but Y is forcing their hand due to his preference for big name players.

Generalized that for you.

Maybe too harsh, but for me to even consider Johnson, I'd have to hear him say, "Yeah the way I've been playing got people to pay a lot of money for me, but I was actually much more effective in Phoenix and I want to finish my career going back to that."

[Doctor MJ]

Would it be possible to extend the 100 day waiting period for the general board to the PC board? I wonder if it's worth considering.

The 100 day restriction on posting is a bad idea on the General Board that has failed to improve the quality of the discussion in any measurable way and that failed policy should not be extended to the Players Comparison Board.

The Players Comparison Board is the best basketball discussion forum on the internet that I have found but it is not perfect. It does have an echo chamber tendency due to our reliance on terms that are not clearly defined if new here and certain biases that are not proven conclusively to be correct. Excluding new posters will make that problem worse without any clear benefits.

The main impact would be to gradually shrink the number of posters on this board such that it resembles apbr should the 100 day ban on posting was added to the Players Comparison the board.

I think the bolded is a good point (I think it's always worthwhile to challenge conventional wisdom, so maybe having new faces around is important in forcing us to reconsider beliefs we held). Maybe this summer the board should make a concerted effort to come up with operational definitions and links to new research, perhaps a primer of sorts (with links to good threads to read first)?

I'd be really reluctant to put the restrictions on the PC board. Before I say anything else though, let me just ask people, particularly those who found the RealGM PC board in the past few years when it already had the reputation it has now, how did you get here? Not simply to RealGM, but to this board.

And then as you reflect on that, how would things have been different if the PC board had a higher barrier to entry?

[Doctor MJ]

Spurs have to be favorites now right? As great as Timmy has been man he has been so blessed since his rookie year.................West is def determined to leave the league with a ring. Taking $1.5 mill from Spurs instead of $12 mill from Pacers..........

That's my current feeling yeah.

Were it another team I'd say "You never know how well those new pieces will fit in", but it's the Spurs. Until they lose that Midas touch, the most likely thing is that things will go well.

As I say this, I still think it's quite possible we haven't seen how good the Warriors can get, and that anyone who thinks that the Warriors were "lucky" to beat the teams they faced - which I say because people are actually calling the Warriors "weak" champions - is interpreting something I see as a strength as a weakness.

And of course, the obligatory references to the Cavs and OKC.

[ceiling raiser]

I'd be really reluctant to put the restrictions on the PC board. Before I say anything else though, let me just ask people, particularly those who found the RealGM PC board in the past few years when it already had the reputation it has now, how did you get here? Not simply to RealGM, but to this board.

And then as you reflect on that, how would things have been different if the PC board had a higher barrier to entry?

I first found it when I saw some great posts by ElGee, drza and fatal9 linked on another board, and was interested in the community from the offset (based on the content, quality of posting, lack of trolling, etc.). If there was an entry requirement, I don't think it would have deterred me from posting since I was sold pretty quickly, but I do understand that point (and it can be frustrating I'm sure if one reads a post, and has valuable insights, but is unable to reply).

I was just a bit frustrated I guess, but the same few PBP don't last very long as it is, so I shouldn't mind it too much. Even if 4-5 guys manage to create new usernames every few weeks, the mods here do a great job of sniffing them out, and they should be easy to ignore that they won't become disruptive.

Sorry for causing any confusion. As I said, you guys do a terrific job here. I completely understand why instituting a barrier of some sort would negatively impact the community/discussion.

[Doctor MJ]

I'd be really reluctant to put the restrictions on the PC board. Before I say anything else though, let me just ask people, particularly those who found the RealGM PC board in the past few years when it already had the reputation it has now, how did you get here? Not simply to RealGM, but to this board.

And then as you reflect on that, how would things have been different if the PC board had a higher barrier to entry?

I first found it when I saw some great posts by ElGee, drza and fatal9 linked on another board, and was interested in the community from the offset (based on the content, quality of posting, lack of trolling, etc.). If there was an entry requirement, I don't think it would have deterred me from posting since I was sold pretty quickly, but I do understand that point (and it can be frustrating I'm sure if one reads a post, and has valuable insights, but is unable to reply).

I was just a bit frustrated I guess, but the same few PBP don't last very long as it is, so I shouldn't mind it too much. Even if 4-5 guys manage to create new usernames every few weeks, the mods here do a great job of sniffing them out, and they should be easy to ignore that they won't become disruptive.

Sorry for causing any confusion. As I said, you guys do a terrific job here. I completely understand why instituting a barrier of some sort would negatively impact the community/discussion.

Oh to be clear, I don't want to seem defensive. By no means do I see things as perfect here.

The general dilemma is this: For a high-brow basketball discussion, you want to keep your core involved as much as possible without annoying people getting in the way...but the way you got that core in the first place was based in part on the high visibility that a popular site has and the fact that it made it easy for people to be swung over to participate.

As an example, ElGee and I still talk to each other about basketball, and we have great conversations. Part of what makes him less likely to contribute here is in getting tired by n00bs...which is something that can push him away from the forum. The bigger part though is simply that at a certain point if you're not making basketball central in your life, you're going to have a tendency to fall away anyway. So I think realistically he wouldn't be participating now very much regardless, because he's just less focused on basketball because he's serious about other things.

Meanwhile, I remember when he joined - and it was similar with you fpliii, and I remember someone saying something similar to me right when I joined - you just knew right away this guy was serious. He didn't need to have 100 or 1000 posts, and didn't need to be around for months. We mock the "ballboy" status at times, but the reality is that I've seen plenty of ballboys come in and immediately contribute, and I'd hate to think even one of them would have not done that because of some kind of boundary we erected.

I'll also say that when I first started posting, I'd been a lurker for a good while. What made me actually sign up and start contributing was a specific thing I wanted to address. Had a signed up and found that I couldn't respond, I doubt I would have stuck around.

[Clyde Frazier]

Hopefully it is just a rumor but X's interest in Joe Johnson shows management does not understand how to build a team around Y or that they do but Y is forcing their hand due to his preference for big name players.

Generalized that for you.

Maybe too harsh, but for me to even consider Johnson, I'd have to hear him say, "Yeah the way I've been playing got people to pay a lot of money for me, but I was actually much more effective in Phoenix and I want to finish my career going back to that."

Honestly, I don't think he's quite that stubborn.

Hey Joe, are you interested in going to the finals for the first time in your career? You'll have a lesser role, but you'll still get consistent min as a second / third playmaker depending on the lineup, and you'll probably shoot 40% from 3. Sound good?

He's going into his 15th season, and the nets roster is such that he's been given that big role whether he's suited for it or not. I think he'd buy in just fine in cleveland.

[sp6r=underrated]

The acquisition of David West ensures that San Antonio has the best big man group in the NBA which will allow them to rest Duncan for the playoffs. There most significant limitation is going to be on the perimeter in that they only have two reliable ball handlers in Parker and Manu.

Parker appeared to be completely finished as an NBA player at the end of the Los Angeles series. San Antonio would have won that series if he performed at a backup point guard level. It is understandable that Popovich was unwilling to turn to Joseph but he getting Parker’s minutes in the series would have been enough to win the series even with an injured and as a result useless Splitter.

Manu also showed a continual decline from the previous season and has been a regular injury risk for over a half decade.
San Antonio will be relying on these two to give them important minutes this year. Green and Mills cannot effectively play together due to their limitations as primary ball handlers. San Antonio will probably sign a replacement level point guard and hope Popovich and crew can develop that player to an adequate level.

With all of that said I would classify San Antonio as the best team in the NBA currently because I expect Leonard to continue his emergence and because the frontline is significantly improved. Overall this team is from a talent perspective better than the 2012 through 2015 Spurs which have only been outplayed in one series. Their other two defeats came in 7 game losses to championship level ball clubs in which they outscored the competition.

They are not my favorite to win the NBA title. Cleveland Cavaliers have the best chance to win a title. By my estimation four out of the top five clubs play in the Western Conference and there is a significant drop off between those clubs and the second best team in the Eastern Conference. The difference in playoff competition means that Cleveland has a better chance of winning a title despite not having the best team.

[fuzzy_dunlop]

yeah this spurs team has a ton of talent, but the roster is very imbalanced. I think people are overestimating the additions they've made and underestimating the losses due to name recognition. My first instinct is to disagree that they're the best team in the league, but would love 2 see some quantitative analysis (e.g RPM estimates).

[Moonbeam]

My Morrissey homage to Portland's 2015 offseason:

https://www.facebook.com/ian.renner.756/videos/10155797597865113/

Spoiler:

There is something I wanted to tell you,
It's so funny you'll kill yourself laughing…
But then I, I look around…
And I remember that I am alone,
Alone.
For evermore

When Lopez tortured all the mascots,
And Batum got those crazy chase-down blocks,
Here you'll find, despair and I,
Calling to you with what's left of my heart!
My heart!
For evermore!

LMA… doing work… off the block,
Poor Steve Blake, traded after his third stop,
Here you'll find, my thoughts and I,
And here is the very last beat from my heart!
My heart!
For evermore!

Where Wesley Matthews never stopped hustling,
Under slate grey Oregonian skies,
Here you will find, despair and I
And here I am every last inch of me is yours!
Yours!
For evermore!

Your year came to rest in Game 5,
You were bounced after such a great start,
And me and my heart, we knew…
We just knew,
For evermore

Where Roy and Oden could never stay healthy,
Under slate grey Oregonian skies
Here you'll find, my heart and I,
And still we say come back,
Come back to Portland
And I'll be good!
I'll be good!
I'll be good!
I'll be good!

[Moonbeam]

Stop with the "I get that you don't like this guy". To the extent i don't like him now, it's because of recent behavior, not the other way around.

I'm going to just try to get things as simple as I can here. My (2) option was "Aldridge doesn't say those words, but he says very positive things.", my (1) option was "Aldridge unofficially says he's coming."

Can we at least agree that if he said (1), it says negative things about his integrity?

If not, I think you're crazy.

If so, so then for you the key thing is that the guy has to literally say the words, even though they don't legally mean anything, and if he uses anything less literal, no matter how flirtatious, it's not an integrity issue.

My issue then is that I think in practice that's not how conversation works. We don't force people to say just the right words before we commit to going forward with them precisely because we know that the right words are still nothing more than wind if it isn't in writing, and hence the very nature of the discussion is based on the integrity of the two sides not misleading the other.

Put it this way: If you know a girl who has a tendency to get guys to break up with their girlfriends for her, and then says she just wants to be friends, there's a problem with this girl. Fine to say there were problems with the guys too, but there's some kind of a problem with the girl, and whether or not it's a pre-meditated thing, it is an integrity issue. The words and tone coming out of her mouth do not communicate her intentions, and appear to communicate very different intentions.

If to you that's not an integrity thing, that's fine, but it's a problem nonetheless.

I can get behind the sentiment of this. However, I don't think it's so much that Aldridge was leading other teams on (intentionally or not), I think that it may have more to do with the fact that he's not the easiest guy to read. I could definitely see Aldridge hearing a pitch from, say, the Suns, and responding with something like, "Yeah, that sounds really good. I could see this situation working for me", but because of his mannerisms, it might come off to one person like a lukewarm reaction and another like great interest. I suppose you'd like to think he'd be self-aware enough to know how that he could come across that way and be careful of not just how he chooses his words, but how he says them, but a guy that was listening to lots of pitches from different teams (and possibly flying around a bit to hear them - not sure on where these meetings were all held), may not be at his best in reading the mood of the room, either.

[E-Balla]

Bill Cosby has been exposed as using Quaaludes to rape women. Yeesh. Think they pull the Cosby show again?

[RSCD3_]

Bill Cosby has been exposed as using Quaaludes to rape women. Yeesh. Think they pull the Cosby show again?

I'll quote this with a tweet I found

"@richiebranson: The world will have to accept the fact that @BillCosby and Dr. Huxtable are not the same person."