Hear, hear. A welcome break from some of the absolutely unbearable, ludicrous, petty sh*tposting that we could do without.

Worthy of a comment, when I first stumbled onto this forum about a year ago it was the most venomous forum I had ever seen, but have found it's gotten better since so the more positive contributors the better.

Thanks to RobT and everyone else who has engaged in meaningful discussions with me in the past 2-3 months! It has been a pleasure! I'm looking forward to our future discussions hehe.

This forum is far from the most venomous I have ever seen, in fact it is middle of the range tame. I seem to recall OzHoops being more aggressive.

Yes, I too like intellectual basketball discussion, fun banter and reminiscing about the golden years of the NBL.

But I don't let the negativity get to me, in fact its water off a duck's back.

It's part and parcel of the internet that people say what they want behind that anonymity, as long as it does descend to outright Group abuse (race, gender, sexuality) or threats its generally OK.

I find some people tend to be more easily triggered and will bite back with more vitriol.

ME says something. Others automatically jump to that's because your (intentionally spelt that way to highlight their grasp of language) a racist.

KR says something, response will be well you're always right aren't you.

There are always going to be events / occasions where things are negative by nature and discussing it sometimes brings out more negativity from people.

Examples being :

- Ben Simmons barred from the Casino.
- Hiring of Scott Christophersen, Ebi Ere, 2Hard2Guard.
- Sydney Kings forfeiting a grand final.
- The Hawks going into VA for the nth time.
- LV suggesting Melbourne should have beaten Sydney in 19/20.
- Some Adelaide fan bitching he deserves the prize money for a second half court shot he shouldn't have taken.

For controversial things I have no problems with discussions getting heated, it doesn't mean the forum is bad or all the members are bad.

That said its always good to have new members bringing in fresh perspectives that aren't limited to coach' man b00bs and general manager's boys clubs.

OP was not a criticism of this site and it's participants. I agree that there are much more toxic ones out there.

Sorry to add this, but youngsters seem to be the more vitriolic towards their peers. Glad to be past juniors (not me, my kids) for that reason.

Wow thanks I joined like yesterday haha.

Years ago I used a female name on this forum and was surprised how many people attacked me based on 'being female'. All in all I find it to be a respectful forum. Jokes about African Australians aren't too crash hot at times tho.

Well said, RobT. TBH with regards to the insults and negativity I just assume it's going to happen and have a bit of a laugh. Pretty sad though that you can't have an opinion and not be attacked for it but thats society in general these days... The positives outweigh the negatives so I keep reading and, on occasion, post. Enjoying the insights of Stevy and KNPG. I've been to many games in the Philippines and China and to say the crowds are not supportive is not factual - some of the loudest games I have been to are in those countries. The Taiwan league is amazing too, not the highest standard however some players are treated like movie stars with fans (mostly female) turning up with posters etc of their favourite players - you'd swear it was the second coming of the Beatles!