Why is defense considered ugly?

[TwentyOne920]

I never thought the Spurs were as bad as everyone thought. What typically hurt them was that, outside of the Pistons in 05, they were playing crappy teams in the Finals, their big opportunity to showcase themselves.

And that Pistons/Spurs series, as competitive as it was, was brutal to watch because you had two world-class defenses choking each other out.

I don't care what anyone says -- going eight, nine possessions in a row with no points isn't exciting to watch. That happened pretty much every quarter in that series.

That was the best Spurs finals IMO, mostly because they more often than not locked up a ring after beating up the West.

[rockmanslim]

The real goal of pro sports is butts in seats and eyes on screens.

But the real goal of pro teams is to win a championship in their sport.

Because championships put butts in seats and eyes on screens.

Yes.

So, if a team can win a chip by being "boring" do you think that they're not going to do it?

True, but it still goes against the preferences of every professional sports league in the US and A to favor offense over defense, which they do because they know it's good for business because it's what people watch sports for, for action.

Of course, some die hard fans want their team to win no matter what, boring or not, but sports leagues aren't after those die hard fans, as die hard fans will watch no matter what. They're after the casuals. Casuals want action. Not to mention the die hards who prefer action. If the owners didn't agree, the competition committees of each sport wouldn't have put in so many rules over the years to favor offenses. Yet that's exactly what they've done. Offense sells, action sells. Offense is sexy, sex sells.

[Nuntius]

True, but it still goes against the preferences of every professional sports league in the US and A to favor offense over defense, which they do because they know it's good for business because it's what people watch sports for, for action.

Of course, some die hard fans want their team to win no matter what, boring or not, but sports leagues aren't after those die hard fans, as die hard fans will watch no matter what. They're after the casuals. Casuals want action. Not to mention the die hards who prefer action. If the owners didn't agree, the competition committees of each sport wouldn't have put in so many rules over the years to favor offenses. Yet that's exactly what they've done. Offense sells, action sells. Offense is sexy, sex sells.

I feel that the point of the OP is that defense can be sexy as well.

[KingCuban]

Its ugly because it doesn't sell to the casual fan or Mike D'Antoni, but for an enthusiast, its gorgeous.

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Or to make sure you hold your opponents to less points.

[Bskey]

Its ugly because it doesn't sell to the casual fan or Mike D'Antoni, but for an enthusiast, its gorgeous.

The "goal" in basketball is to score.

In any scoring based sport, scoring is what truly excites people. This is something most definitely not unique to basketball.

Or to make sure you hold your opponents to less points.

Well it's called a field goal for a reason. Of course you have to score more than the other team to win, and part of that is defense. Doesn't change the goal.

[KingCuban]

My point is, depending on who you speak to and what philosophy they have about basketball, be it offense wins or defense, they are effectively both right.

Both methodologies have countless examples of this.

[Bay Based]

I've noticed whenever there is a game between two defensive teams, the media immediately jumps on it as an "ugly" game. Am I the only one that loves watching defense? Do other people consider defense to be ugly?

It's ugly because when you play tough defense the other team has a hard time scoring which ruins their flow of the game. It's not smooth whereas a team shooting a high percentage looks more polished.

I don't think the term ugly is a knock on defense. It's fun to watch your team play great defense and score after the defensive possession, but if both teams can't score then it looks like a struggle, hence the term "ugly".

[TwentyOne920]

There are games where two teams just out-defend each other and then there's ugly games. The latter include copious amounts of isolation basketball that lead to empty possessions.

Some teams play great defense by forcing turnovers then creating offense out of it. Others force offenses to run around like headless chickens, and may or may not capitalize when they get the ball.