I caught a little bit of a University of Minnesota game on TV a few nights ago and was taken by the wood finish of the court. It has a very light, cold, grayish tone. Watching the game reminded me of the photography special-effect of selective colorization, with the players and certain court features (e.g., the center-court "M" and the keys) in color and the background in black-and-white.
This Daily Gopher article includes not only a photo of the new court, but also shots of some earlier ones in team history.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Monday, November 5, 2018
UIC Fans the Flames
(Via the usual sources) The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has a new floor, whose combination of two design elements makes it unique. The school's nickname is the Flames, a reference to the Great Chicago Fire. The lower-right and upper-left corners of the floor show burning flames. Running diagonally from lower-left to upper-right is a waving version of the City of Chicago flag.
Sports Illustrated has an online article showing the UIC floor, along with other wild and gaudy ones from around the nation. Most of these, we've covered here over the years. Note also that not all of the court designs shown in the SI article remain in use. Long Beach State, for one, has toned down its floor.
Sports Illustrated has an online article showing the UIC floor, along with other wild and gaudy ones from around the nation. Most of these, we've covered here over the years. Note also that not all of the court designs shown in the SI article remain in use. Long Beach State, for one, has toned down its floor.
Saturday, November 3, 2018
2018-2019 Uni-Watch Preview (Which Also Includes Court Designs)
(Via Matt Rachmiel) Uni-Watch is out with its annual college-basketball design preview. The focus, of course, is on uniforms, but there's plenty of court coverage, too. Most of the floor-design changes look minor to me, such as changing the color of the out-of-bounds area. One substantial change that I really like is how Rutgers has gotten rid of the huge free-standing "R" at center-court and gone to a smaller "R" with a shellac-based shape of New Jersey behind it.
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Rockets' Mid-1990s Court Included in NBA's "Absolute Absurdities"
ESPN.com writer Zach Lowe's compilation of items for the "NBA Hall of Absolute Absurdities" includes, under the heading of "most regrettably garish design elements in league history," the "jumbled Houston court... complete with sneering cartoon rocket." An illustration of that court is included in the above-linked article.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
NBA Live 19 Offers Court Customization
If you're into basketball video-gaming, NBA Live 19 will offer extensive court customization (via Matt Rachmiel). According to this article, one starts by selecting a theme, defined as follows:
Themes are presets of line colors, paint colors, and court textures that transform the look of your court with the push of a button.
From there, one can choose from numerous additional templates and designs, including old-time NBA courts, player images, and non-basketball images (e.g., animal prints).
Themes are presets of line colors, paint colors, and court textures that transform the look of your court with the push of a button.
From there, one can choose from numerous additional templates and designs, including old-time NBA courts, player images, and non-basketball images (e.g., animal prints).
Thursday, August 9, 2018
Charlotte Hornets' Throwback Floor
Matt Rachmiel directed me to this Uni Watch story on the Charlotte Hornets' announcement of a throwback floor to be used on nights the team wears throwback uniforms. This is not the first instance of a throwback court (see here, here, and here). However, there are a couple of features of the Charlotte one that warrant notice, in my view.
First, I like the "fade" inside each of the three-point arcs, as the teal (bluish-green) transitions into the bluish-purple (see official team color guide). Second, the honeycomb design inside the keys is also interesting.
For some of you, the keys and painted-in areas inside the arcs may have already crossed the line into realm of excessive gaudiness. If not, the orange basketballs in the free-throw circles may do it!
First, I like the "fade" inside each of the three-point arcs, as the teal (bluish-green) transitions into the bluish-purple (see official team color guide). Second, the honeycomb design inside the keys is also interesting.
For some of you, the keys and painted-in areas inside the arcs may have already crossed the line into realm of excessive gaudiness. If not, the orange basketballs in the free-throw circles may do it!
Monday, August 6, 2018
Memphis Grizzlies Go Old School
Announcements of new court designs for the upcoming NBA and college seasons are starting to come quickly. Via the usual sources, the latest team to release a new schematic is the Memphis Grizzlies.
Other than the center logo and the light-blue keys, the rest of the Grizzlies' court is pretty much just natural wood. Even the out-of-bounds area surrounding the court has no color paint (other than some lettering and stripes). Further, the limiting of dark blue to the logo and the near-total phase-out of yellow soften the look even more (compare to the previous court). The new Grizzlies design -- particularly its empty out-of-bounds area -- reminds me of some old-school college courts (here, here, and here).
A subtle difference between Memphis's new court and most existing ones, pointed out by Chris Creamer of Sports Logos, is that, "The floorboards don’t run goal to goal like most courts, instead sideline to sideline."
Other than the center logo and the light-blue keys, the rest of the Grizzlies' court is pretty much just natural wood. Even the out-of-bounds area surrounding the court has no color paint (other than some lettering and stripes). Further, the limiting of dark blue to the logo and the near-total phase-out of yellow soften the look even more (compare to the previous court). The new Grizzlies design -- particularly its empty out-of-bounds area -- reminds me of some old-school college courts (here, here, and here).
A subtle difference between Memphis's new court and most existing ones, pointed out by Chris Creamer of Sports Logos, is that, "The floorboards don’t run goal to goal like most courts, instead sideline to sideline."
Thursday, August 2, 2018
Make Up Your Minds, Bucks, On Big Shellac M's!
They're here. They're gone. They're here. They're gone.
What we're talking about, of course, are the Milwaukee Bucks' two giant M shapes depicted on their playing surface through varying shades of shellac. These M's, one for each half of the court, have adorned the team's floor on and off' over the years.
The original M's were a fixture of Bucks' courts from 1977-1995.
They came back, in modified form, starting with the 2013-14 season.
Now, the M's are gone again.
Other than the removal of the M's, the Bucks' new court looks pretty similar to the previous one. One change is a new forest/camouflage green motif in the out-of-bounds area surrounding the court.
What we're talking about, of course, are the Milwaukee Bucks' two giant M shapes depicted on their playing surface through varying shades of shellac. These M's, one for each half of the court, have adorned the team's floor on and off' over the years.
The original M's were a fixture of Bucks' courts from 1977-1995.
They came back, in modified form, starting with the 2013-14 season.
Now, the M's are gone again.
Other than the removal of the M's, the Bucks' new court looks pretty similar to the previous one. One change is a new forest/camouflage green motif in the out-of-bounds area surrounding the court.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Video Compendium of All NBA Teams' Courts in History (Through 2018)
A 12-minute, 30-second video from End Zone Productions, posted to YouTube on March 18, 2018, presents a rolling slideshow of (nearly) every court design ever used by all 30 current NBA franchises (link).
Though the compilation looks largely complete and accurate to my eye, there are omissions and errors. The first omission I noticed was that the Sacramento Kings' courts only go back to the franchise's days as the Kansas City Kings (1972-73 to 1984-85) and not to its earlier days as the Cincinnati (1957-58 to 1971-72) and Rochester (1948-49 to 1956-57) Royals. To borrow a Steely Dan album title, you might say this is a "Royal Scam."
Loads of comments (241 at present) to the video at YouTube from NBA court enthusiasts point out other inaccuracies. On the whole, though, the video is a very impressive resource!
Though the compilation looks largely complete and accurate to my eye, there are omissions and errors. The first omission I noticed was that the Sacramento Kings' courts only go back to the franchise's days as the Kansas City Kings (1972-73 to 1984-85) and not to its earlier days as the Cincinnati (1957-58 to 1971-72) and Rochester (1948-49 to 1956-57) Royals. To borrow a Steely Dan album title, you might say this is a "Royal Scam."
Loads of comments (241 at present) to the video at YouTube from NBA court enthusiasts point out other inaccuracies. On the whole, though, the video is a very impressive resource!
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Long Beach State Drops Beach Design in Favor of More Traditional Look
Via the usual sources, Long Beach State has removed its palm-tree laden, beach-themed basketball court design after six years. As shown in this time-lapse video, the 49ers will now have a much more conventional-looking floor.
Monday, June 25, 2018
Las Vegas WNBA Team "Aces" Its Floor Design
The WNBA's Las Vegas Aces (formerly the San Antonio Stars) have a sharp floor design for their inaugural season in the Desert. Red and black, the dominant colors of playing cards, naturally are the team's colors, and the center-court logo fits in nicely.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
Big Bronc on Rider Court
Via the usual sources, Rider University has a new court design. As shown here, it features a large dark-shellac outline of the school's Bronc logo, which dominates the middle of the court. The logo is a bit big for my taste. I don't see why it couldn't have been somewhat smaller, so that it didn't cross over three-point arcs at both ends and the out-of-bounds sideline toward the bottom of the picture. I think a smaller version would have looked nicer.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Florida Atlantic University's New Court Replete with Palm Trees
Via the usual sources, Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton) will have a new court featuring depictions of palm trees. It's somewhat reminiscent of Florida International University's (Miami) beach-themed court introduced five years ago.
Friday, March 30, 2018
2018 NCAA Women's Final Four
As we've seen over the years, the women's Final Four has often featured some very creative court designs. For this year's event, being held at Columbus, Ohio's Nationwide Arena, the design seems more abstract than usual. Between the three-point arc and the key, a mosaic-type design appears, with each piece looking like a rounded triangle (almost like a slice of pizza). Adjacent pieces give the impression of looking like a basketball, then again maybe not. A photo is available here.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Utah Jazz's "Red Rock" City Edition Court and Uniforms
If you caught any of tonight's Minnesota Timberwolves at Utah Jazz game on TV and were wondering about the color-scheme, court, and uniforms displayed by the home team, this article explains everything.
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