One down, and I’m surprised (as well as bummed since that’s the end of my bracket). Kansas and Adidas are out, leaving Nike with Gonzaga, North Carolina, and Oregon. Under Armour is still scrapping on then backs of the South Carolina Gamecocks.
In the Elite 8 of 2016, both Adidas and Under Armour are barely hanging on with one team each (Kansas for Adidas and Notre Dame for Under Armour). All the rest (Virginia, Syracuse, Oregon, Oklahoma, Villanova, and North Caroline) don the swoosh. From a numbers standpoint, this works out to 75% Nike and 12.5% each for Adidas and UA.
Seed, Team, Shoe
1, Virginia, Nike
10, Syracuse, Nike
1, Oregon, Nike
2, Oklahoma, Nike
1, Kansas, Adidas
2, Villanova, Nike
1, North Carolina, Nike
6, Notre Dame, Under Armour
All players want to be guards. That’s been a known fact for years especially in the kicks world where big man shoes just don’t sell. I can’t name a popular big man shoe in recent history… maybe Dwight Howard’s signature Adidas? See my point? Even the role of the big man is being redefined with the stretch forward like Draymond Green and Anthony Davis (but really, the Brow’s Air Max Audacity is not quite attractive).
So during the tournament, guard shoes were everywhere. Kobe 11 was pretty much on every Oklahoma Sooner player, even on rugged forward Ryan Spangler. Interestingly enough, a popular high top was made for a guard in the Kobe X Elite worn by #3 Josh Hart of Villanova.
Check out Wichita State and Arizona. I see Kobe X, Hyperlive, Kyrie 2, and LeBron Zoom Soldiers. The Zoom Soldiers are the closest big man shoes out there.
Speaking of LeBron James, there were very few sightings of LeBron’s actual signature line. Here’s a shot showcasing the usefulness of sturdy, hightops to protect your feet (and inflict pain on the opposition).
Several players wore Kevin Durant’s KD8. Love this Aunt Pearl makeup.
Another popular guard shoe was Kyrie Irving’s signature line. While the Kyrie 2 was quite common, the Kyrie 1 was well represented. Despite the retro cool grey Jordan 11 worn by #13 Isaiah Briscoe of Kentucky, there weren’t that may Jordan retros on court.
Lastly, Brice Johnson, the talented 6-10 forward from North Carolina, wore the Chris Paul CP3 line emphasizing the popularity of guards’ shoes.
So maybe the team with the best guard shoes wins it all?
The Sweet Sixteen of 2016 looks like this:
Nike has 9 of the 16 teams for 56%. Adidas has 5 teams for 31%, and Under Armour has the remaining 12.5%. Nike is almost even to win with its drop from 62% to 56%. Adidas increased their odds of winning, going from 22% to 31%. UA took a hit dropping from 16% to 12.5%.
Adidas-wearing Miami took out some colorful KD8 Nikes on their way to the Sweet Sixteen.
Like 2015, the top seeded teams for each region are broken out to three Nike teams (Virginia, North Carolina, and Oregon) and one Adidas (Kansas).
Under Armour’s highest seeded team is Utah at #3 in the Midwest region. Hawaii is ranked #13 in the South, but the lowest seeded UA team is S.F. Austin at #14 in the East. But the Lumberjacks have represented UA in the tournament since 2014.
Parity seems to be the theme with the 2016 selections from the basketball conferences.
The power conferences checked in with 7 bids each with all the mid majors represented by their respective conference tournament winners. The American and Atlantic 10 had three teams. The Big East wasn’t as big as other conferences with five selections. The Missouri Valley and SEC had two teams each.
Well, well, well. Will you look at that. There’s another player in the game. Don’t get me wrong, Nike still dominates the field of 64 with 40 teams (62%), and Adidas has a respectable 22% of the field with 14 teams. So what about that remaining 16%? Ten March Madness dancers wore Under Armour shoes. That’s double the number of teams from last year.
Let’s take a look at the trends of 2016 where Nike lost 8 points, Adidas went up 3, and UA pulling in 10.
The ten UA teams are Texas Tech, Seton Hall, Utah, Cincinnati, Maryland, South Dakota St., Temple, Notre Dame, S.F. Austin, and my personal favorite, Hawaii. Hawaii’s game shoe of choice belong to the Curry line, both 1 and 2. Though if I had a say, the whole team would wear the lucky Curry 2 Suit & Tie.
All it takes is 4.7 seconds to go from Air Jordan XX9s to Kyrie 2s for the win. Tarheel Marcus Paige’s hit a miracle double pump three to tie the game with his Air Jordans cavorting in the air.
Then as the clock ticked down with 4.7 seconds, Wildcats’ Kris Jenkins launched the game winner with less than a second. Truth be told, I couldn’t identify Jenkins’ kicks in that 4.7 seconds. After watching several replays, I thought Kris could be wearing the LeBron 13, but my final guess is the Kyrie 2. Even now, I’m not completely sure but pretty confident that the 6-6 forward was wearing a shoe designed for guards. Well, Kris stroked that jumper just like a guard.
Check out the unbelievable ending yourself.
Either way, Nike was the ultimate kicks winner in the 2016 edition of March Madness. Looking back to 1999, the kicks title looks like this:
That’s 15 championships for Nike in the past 18 years, coming out to a 83% winning percentage.
Today’s the day that Nike gets another NCAA men’s basketball championship added to its resume. It don’t take no genius to know that Nike has 2016 all wrapped up with North Carolina and Villanova. It was essentially Nike’s game after the Elite 8. During that time, Adidas was represented by Kansas and Under Armour by Notre Dame. The other six elitists (Virginia, Syracuse, Oregon, Oklahoma, Villanova, and North Carolina) wore Nikes.
Which team will have the better kicks showing in today’s finals? Will it be North Carolina and their Jordans or ‘Nova and their various signature lines?
From the kicks I’ve seen during the 2016 tournament, I personally think Nike’s best is the Kobe X.
From Under Armour, their best showing has to be the Currys (worn by Hawaii).
Adidas had several teams decked out in crazy D Rose Boost 6 shoes. Here’s a conservative colorway worn by Bakersfield big man Aly Ahmed.
Whoa, what happened to the 2016 Kicks Analysis parts 1-5? Starting at the sixth installment? Well, I have some catching up to do after a #palms16 vacation. So in the meantime, let’s fast forward.
The 2016 Final Four was an all Nike affair. Oklahoma was primarily decked out in Kobe Bryant’s signature line in the form of the X (Buddy Hield) and the 11, possibly the newest Lower Merion colorway. Villanova players wore a variety of Nikes like the Kobe X Elite high top, the Hyperrev 2016, Kyrie 2, and a LeBron XIII.
The East-Midwest matchup featured the North Carolina Tarheels and the surprising Orangemen of Syracuse. No surprise that Carolina wore Jordans although a variety of models including the CP3 line worn by Brice Johnson. Surprisingly, last year’s Jordan XX9 low top was a popular pick.
I did not see retros like in years past, but old player signature lines were apparent. Buddy’s Kobe X, Malachi Richardson in KD7s, and Carolina favoring Jordan 29 instead of the latest Jordan 30.
So the analysis is easy – Nike wins again with all Final Four teams swooshing.
Yeah, I know Pulpconnection’s annual analysis of shoes worn by teams making the Big Dance is late. But this year with the University of Hawaii Warriors making the tournament, it’s been a fun ride to watch the madness.
As usual, Nike has the preponderance of teams in the tournament, but one of their representatives is no more. The Under Armour-clad Warriors beat the Jordan-ed Cal squad for Hawaii’s first win in the men’s tournament.
Quincy Smith led the way uncharacteristicly wearing the UA Curry 2 Suit & Tie instead of his usual Curry 1 Lows. Although as you know, the Suit & Tie has brought the team success, usually worn by Rod Bobbitt. Though in the 4 vs 13 matchup, Rod crashed in wearing the brand new Curry 2 colorway, the Surprise Party. Both he and Mike Thomas battled in the birthday cake colored shoes commemorating Steph Curry’s birthday.
Next up Hawaii plays the 5th seeded Maryland, hopefully wearing the same UA kicks yielding another win.
Photo by Brandon Flores Photography.