KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Big 12 Conference is ditching its slippery new glass floor for hardwood 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.”
The Big 12 announced last month that it would be playing the men’s and women’s tournaments on the surface, which is produced by ASB GlassFloor and has been used at the NBA All-Star Game and in Europe but never before during an official competition in the United States.
There were numerous instances where players appeared to slip, even slightly, when trying to plant.
“I personally didn’t have any involvement (in the decision),” Kansas coach Bill Self after his 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.”
Rather than traditional wood, the floor has an aluminum and steel spring-action design that is supposed to mimic the flexibility of hardwood. The LED panels, which allow the league to 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: Numerous players have slipped when they might not otherwise.
