Conference Tournaments 2013

Some brief observations:

The Mountain West tournament, taking place in Las Vegas, is using the same mountain-themed court as was used for last year's NCAA women's Final Four in Denver. (Thanks to Matt Rachmiel for giving me a heads-up a while back.)

The Atlantic 10 is playing at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The whole midcourt area is saturated with advertisements.

I like the simplicity of the BOK Center court in Tulsa for the Conference USA tourney.

Midseason Modification to Ohio State's Court

Matt Rachmiel has brought to my attention a rare midseason change in court design, which is taking place at Ohio State. Here's an article I found on the matter.

UCLA Floor at Renovated Pauley Pavilion

Based on a Pac-12 Network video feed of tonight's Stanford at UCLA women's volleyball match, we can see that the center-court logo at the renovated Pauley Pavilion has been changed. Before closing for the 2011-12 academic year, Pauley's center-court area had always featured a traditional circular design, with angular "UC" and "LA" lettering facing viewers either behind press row or on the opposite side of the court.

As can be seen below, however, the school has switched to a cursive "Ucla" with underline, on which it says "BRUINS." You may click on the screen-captured photo to enlarge it.

New College-Court Designs

Uni Watch's college basketball preview reports some new court designs, along with changes in some schools' uniforms. Matt Rachmiel, who brought the Uni Watch column to my attention, highlights the new Long Beach State court as one warranting attention.

New NBA Court Designs for 2012-13

Paul Lukas's NBA preview of new uniforms and other designs provides links to new court images for many teams (thanks to Matt Rachmiel). Many of the changes seem fairly modest, although there are exceptions. The new court for the Phoenix Suns seems to be a pretty radical departure from their previous minimalist design. The Charlotte Bobcats also have a fairly extensive redesign, moving from orange and blue as their primary colors to dark and light blue (maybe a Duke/Carolina type of motif?).

Brooklyn Nets' New Court

A photo of the Brooklyn Nets' court at the new Barclays Center has been released. The hardwood features what is described as a "herringbone" pattern, commonly used in brick and tile designs.

WNBA's New York Liberty Using Newark's Prudential Center

From 2011-2013, the New York Liberty of the WNBA is playing its home games in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center. The Liberty's usual home, Madison Square Garden, is undergoing a major renovation, apparently with large amounts of work taking place during each of the summers the Liberty will be away. (Updates on the MSG renovation are available here.)

I like the way the floor design combines royal blue, light blue, and orange, as shown below. The Liberty's MSG court is a little different, and personally, I like the Prudential Center version better.

Screen captures are from this YouTube video.