New Courts for Second Annual NBA Cup

This Yahoo! Sports article presents illustrations of all 30 team courts for the second annual NBA Cup (in-season tournament). All the courts feature large, colorful concentric circles -- which kind of remind me of Olympic-style wrestling mats -- with large images of the NBA Cup trophy in the keys and at center-court. The only court I really like is Boston's, with its pretend parquet squares painted onto the court.

Oregon Tones Down the Forest, Adds Green Out-of-Bounds Area

I finally caught a telecast from the University of Oregon, featuring the Ducks' new court that Matt Rachmiel had e-mailed me about. This link shows the old and new courts side by side. The two main changes, in my view, are the toning down of the forest motif with fewer trees and the solid green out-of-bounds area. I like both of these changes, especially the greater emphasis given to UO's school colors (the added green area and the slogans "MIGHTY OREGON" and "FIGHTING DUCKS" in yellow, one slogan along each baseline). 

Jackson State's Double Parquet

Frequent contributor Matt Rachmiel writes in with an observation about the court at Jackson State University. Says Matt, "I don’t know how new its court is, but it’s very unusual, and I believe the only Division [I] court that has two different parquet shades: the parquet of most of the court is one shade, but the parquet of the 'two point' area (excluding the key) is a parquet of a different shade."

Full-game video of a recent game at Jackson State is available here.

What NBA Players and Observers Thought of the Special Courts for the In-Season Tournament

With the NBA just having completed its first In-Season Tournament (IST), ESPN.com examines which features of the IST might remain the same and which might change in future seasons. The ESPN.com article raises seven issues, one of which being "What about those new court designs?" (click here for background on the courts). 

Reactions to the courts were generally negative, according to the ESPN.com article. One concern was that the floors, covered entirely in paint with no natural wood showing, were more slippery than typical NBA courts. In addition, "Aesthetic issues were also present. Certain courts -- specifically those that heavily featured bright reds and blues -- were difficult to take in on television." Finally, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged the courts were "a bit cookie cutter." 

To me, the courts -- love them or hate them -- were just about the only noteworthy aspect of the In-Season Tournament. I suspect that once the real playoffs get underway next spring, the IST will be largely forgotten. After all, does anyone care about the NHL Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record?

Courts for Inaugural NBA In-Season Tourney

Via frequent contributor Matt Rachmiel, the inaugural NBA in-season tournament will feature special court designs that follow the same general scheme for all 30 teams, but with colors and other features unique to each team. This ESPN.com article includes thumbnail images of all 30 courts, with larger images of several of them. 

The NBA's aim is to make it immediately clear to television viewers that they are watching an in-season tournament game rather than an ordinary regular-season game (although all tournament games except the final will count in the regular-season standings). I suspect the new floor designs will succeed spectacularly in that regard, as they are unlike any courts I've ever seen.

I created the following schematic to explain the design. First, the courts will consist entirely of solid colors, with no natural wood showing. Second, there will be a large stripe through the middle of the court, taking in the keys.

Some may find the design visually overwhelming, but for its limited purpose, I think it will work nicely.

Northern Illinois Unveils Color-Asymmetric Court

Via the usual sources, Northern Illinois University has a new court. As seen at this link, at one end of the court the key and most of the out-of-bounds area are painted red, whereas at the other end, the key and most of the out-of-bounds area are painted black. For lack of a better term, I'm calling this a "color-asymmetric" court. I've probably seen one or two of these on television over the years, but NIU's is the first I'm aware of for an NCAA Division I program. The court also features an Illinois state-shape and the initials NIU at center court, based on different shades of shellac. The different shades are very subtle -- perhaps too subtle -- however.

Nevada Nixes the State Shape

Via the usual sources, the University of Nevada (Reno) has a new court design, which no longer features the large blue-outlined, solid-gray Nevada shape at center court. In addition, the keys will now be dark blue, instead of gray. This article contains photos of the new and old designs.