KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 Conference is ditching its slippery new glass floor for a hardwood court for the final two days of the tournament.
“After consultation with the coaches of our four semifinal teams, I have decided that in order to provide our student-athletes with the greatest level of comfort on a huge stage this weekend, we will transition to a hardwood court for the remainder of the tournament,” Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a statement Thursday night. “We look forward to a great semifinals and championship game.”
Numerous players have slipped when trying to plant. On Thursday, Texas Tech guard Christian Anderson strained a muscle slipping in the No. 16 Red Raiders’ 75-63 loss to No. 7 Iowa State.
“Obviously, the floor is a bit slippery,” Anderson said. “I think I just kind of mis-stepped or did a movement that caused me to slip,”
The Big 12 announced last month that it would play the men’s and women’s tournaments on the ASB GlassFloor-made court that has been used at the NBA All-Star Game and in Europe but never before during an official U.S. competition.
“I personally didn’t have any involvement (in the decision to go to hardwood),” Kansas coach Bill Self after the No. 14 Jayhawks beat TCU 78-73 on Thursday night in the last game played on the glass floor. “If the other coaches are doing it, (they) have juice and they got more than I got. Because I didn’t have any any involvement with that at all.”
Then he added, “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
The glass floor has an aluminum and steel spring-action design that is supposed to mimic the flexibility of hardwood. The LED panels, which display everything from data-driven graphics to advertising, have ceramic coating and little dots etched into the glass that are supposed to create grip that is consistent with traditional surfaces.
The ball seems to bounce like usual, though with a different “thudding” sound. There are a whole lot more squeaks from sneakers than usual. But the biggest difference has been the traction.
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