Play-In Tournament Court Design

[terra haute]

Yuck. I'm already not a fan of the way the court is split, but the lack of woodgrain just really makes me dislike it. It makes it look like the kind of cheap surface you find in some highschools

Back in early 80's some college teams and I know NC State did the yr they beat Houston had those horrible rubberized courts. We had one in what we called the little gym we used for PE in HS horrible. I wonder how all that paint will work esp places like Boston with Ice underneath.

[Kuberski33]

Let's face it: The NBA has almost completely ditched tradition, which sucks for traditionalists such as myself. They've got Nike making all these ugly uniforms, now they're messing with the courts. And we've got a completely meaningless, pointless in-season tournament. Oh, and sponsor patches on jerseys. Hooray for the 21st century.

The core audience for the league is under 35.  They don't care much for the middle aged crowd.  But as a card carrying member of that crowd, I don't mind it.  The league has to sell this concept - not only to the fans but to the players as well. If both groups feel it has meaning, then it will be entertaining.  It's worth a try.

[Amonkey]

I thought the play-in tournament was going to be a quick tourney in the middle of the season, sort of like how MLS did it this year. I didn't realize it was set to begin this Friday.

[Kernewek]

I thought the play-in tournament was going to be a quick tourney in the middle of the season, sort of like how MLS did it this year. I didn't realize it was set to begin this Friday.

I think they want to get it done to build excitement for the early season without having the outcomes too obvious by record.

[theswitch]

Let's face it: The NBA has almost completely ditched tradition, which sucks for traditionalists such as myself. They've got Nike making all these ugly uniforms, now they're messing with the courts. And we've got a completely meaningless, pointless in-season tournament. Oh, and sponsor patches on jerseys. Hooray for the 21st century.

The core audience for the league is under 35.  They don't care much for the middle aged crowd.  But as a card carrying member of that crowd, I don't mind it.  The league has to sell this concept - not only to the fans but to the players as well. If both groups feel it has meaning, then it will be entertaining.  It's worth a try.

I'm not really that into it but if the games count towards the regular season standings anyways, then there isn't that much opportunity cost? I'd be more skeptical if it reduced the regular season itself but these games sound like they're doubling up which is a way to keep other fans interested. So why not, I guess.

Same with the hardwood. We look at the same stuff for so many games, it's not that big a deal to play around with the options.

[Amonkey]

Let's face it: The NBA has almost completely ditched tradition, which sucks for traditionalists such as myself. They've got Nike making all these ugly uniforms, now they're messing with the courts. And we've got a completely meaningless, pointless in-season tournament. Oh, and sponsor patches on jerseys. Hooray for the 21st century.

The core audience for the league is under 35.  They don't care much for the middle aged crowd.  But as a card carrying member of that crowd, I don't mind it.  The league has to sell this concept - not only to the fans but to the players as well. If both groups feel it has meaning, then it will be entertaining.  It's worth a try.

I'm not really that into it but if the games count towards the regular season standings anyways, then there isn't that much opportunity cost? I'd be more skeptical if it reduced the regular season itself but these games sound like they're doubling up which is a way to keep other fans interested. So why not, I guess.

Same with the hardwood. We look at the same stuff for so many games, it's not that big a deal to play around with the options.

I think (maybe not other people) it would be more interesting if they had a World Cup Club style games. Maybe have a smaller pool of teams but also invite international teams and have that as a tournament. Maybe have 8 NBA teams and 8 international teams (4 Europeans, 1 South American, Asian and African club) and have them play. You know the international teams would play for something and no NBA team would want to lose to an international team.

[theswitch]

Let's face it: The NBA has almost completely ditched tradition, which sucks for traditionalists such as myself. They've got Nike making all these ugly uniforms, now they're messing with the courts. And we've got a completely meaningless, pointless in-season tournament. Oh, and sponsor patches on jerseys. Hooray for the 21st century.

The core audience for the league is under 35.  They don't care much for the middle aged crowd.  But as a card carrying member of that crowd, I don't mind it.  The league has to sell this concept - not only to the fans but to the players as well. If both groups feel it has meaning, then it will be entertaining.  It's worth a try.

I'm not really that into it but if the games count towards the regular season standings anyways, then there isn't that much opportunity cost? I'd be more skeptical if it reduced the regular season itself but these games sound like they're doubling up which is a way to keep other fans interested. So why not, I guess.

Same with the hardwood. We look at the same stuff for so many games, it's not that big a deal to play around with the options.

I think (maybe not other people) it would be more interesting if they had a World Cup Club style games. Maybe have a smaller pool of teams but also invite international teams and have that as a tournament. Maybe have 8 NBA teams and 8 international teams (4 Europeans, 1 South American, Asian and African club) and have them play. You know the international teams would play for something and no NBA team would want to lose to an international team.

I agree this would be fun -- Champions League style

[Kernewek]

Three problems:

One - Euroleague is already underway, so scheduling would be a nightmare.

two - Champions League has relegation & promotion. There's no feasible way to work that into the NBA system, but it doesn't make sense to have a fixed group of X NBA teams and Y 'foreign' teams.

three - nine times out of ten most of the NBA teams would smoke even the best European league teams, particularly if the Euro teams have to fly to the US and play by NBA rules with NBA referees. It wouldn't be that fun to watch, compared to the Olympics or the off-season friendlies.

[tenn_smoothie]

Good Lord, No.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm not sure about the in-season tournament thing, will need to see more details... but I'm not a fan of that until I see more of how it'll play out.

As for the court designs, I like it a lot. They're simple, loud, easily recognizable, and with a uniform pattern among all teams. For the purposes of the tournament, I think it works well.

You forgot "ugly" and "amateurish", haha.

Which is still fine for this purpose. Honestly it's for a very limited amount of games, not real reason to waste much time complaining about it one way or another.

[blink]

some of the worst graphic design I have seen in a while.   Do they have any sense of scale?
Looks like bad-photoshop from an inexperienced designer who doesn't know what they are doing.
yuck.

[ozgod]

I don't mind it. I'm not necessarily afraid of change. I'm willing to give it a go for this year before calling it trash 

[Kernewek]

Anyone else find the application of the 'retro-lens' to the late 90's/Y2K-era very Uncanny Valley? Especially the INDY on the Pacers court.

[Redz]

Oh wow.  I’ve actually been intrigued by the tournament idea from the get go, but those courts are butt ugly and dumb.  I get that they’re trying to differentiate these games in ways that don’t affect the product on the court, but I don’t like the homogenization look at all. 

[liam]

This whole thing seems like an opportunity for more betting.