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.
From Getty Images
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.
From Getty Images
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:
1999 Connecticut (Nike)
2000 Michigan State (Reebok Answers)
2001 Duke (Nike)
2002 Maryland (Nike Shox Stunners)
2003 Syracuse (Nike Shox)
2004 Connecticut (Nike Lebron Zoom Generation and Air Force Operates)
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 Getty Images
From Under Armour, their best showing has to be the Currys (worn by Hawaii).
From Getty Images
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.
From Getty Images
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.
From Getty Images
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.
Found these Chris Paul signature kicks line at Ross, and @gquiks487 was looking for this Multicolor Rainbow colorway. Pretty comfortable shoe for guards although it has an awkward name. For the record, CP3 is for Chris Paul who wears the number 3. This is CP’s eighth (VIII) signature shoe under the Jordan label, and the AE? I think that stands for Artisan Edition which are special colorways made for th playoffs.
I knew chances were slim to get the new yellow Air Max Zero, but I had to try for these SNKRS exclusives. But then, these AM0 were not exclusive to the iOS app afterall available on nike.com.
Released at 5am Hawaii time, this is what I saw in the SNKRS app.
Yes, right at 5am, these shoes were out of stock. Gotta be them bots. I tried buying online and was in line to add the Zeroes to my cart, but all my attempts came up empty. Throughout the morning, various sizes popped up in inventory, but I could never add one to my cart, getting the usual error messages. The SNKRS app was totally useless after showing Out of Stock.
So what did I learn from this latest experience?
I won’t (yet) use bot software. Just not right, and these are shoes after all.
Nike still has a ways to go to make the buying process more fair.
Nike has another “IPO” with the release of the Air Max Zero.
I don’t have to worry about matching yellow kicks.
That’s the question I need to research more. Nike’s Air Max 360 cushioning is a known quantity having worn several shoes with this tech in the past, but Adida’s Ultra Boost is surely making a name for itself, especially with regards to comfort and cushioning. I kinda like the supportive stiffness of the Air Max 360 bubble, but the plush ride of the Ultra Boost would be nice too.
Now, Adidas has the Ultra Boost ST which gives credit to my hunch that the Boost isn’t necessarily good for flat footers. With the stability enhancements for the Ultra Boost ST, maybe it’s time to try them out. I have two reservations buying Adidas – fit and find.
For some reason, the fit of Adidas shoes varies greatly (for me). Half size up, one size up, too tight, too loose – I really want to try on an Adidas model before purchasing since my experience is inconsistent and mixed. That leads to the second problem of finding high-end Adidas shoes. The Ultra Boost line can’t easily be found in Hawaii. Finding online is possible but at a cost. Shipping to Hawaii typically is not free, and returns (if they don’t fit well) could incur additional charges. None of these hassles plague Nike.com. Make a purchase as a Nike+ member and shipping is free both ways. Because there’s no fuss, I’m more willing to try out a shoe. If it don’t fit, I just need to drop the box off at UPS and back it goes.
Price is a factor, but I’m willing to dish out for shoes if need be. But I’m also willing to wear off color ways at a significant discount. Due to the popularity of the Ultra Boost, you really can’t find them on discount.
So what will it be, Nike Air Max 360 or Adidas Ultra Boost?
What happens when (select) local Longs Drugs stores have a 90% clearance on Christmas ornaments and decorations? You get an explosion of impulsiveness that looks like this.
Of course you need Christmas-themed Mickey and Minnie Mouse in large and medium sizes.
And you need even more medium size mouses.
But it’s not only Disney items on clearance, your childhood Rudolph friends like the Abominable Snowmonster aka “Bumble” are on sale.
Really though, despite these enormous savings, what would you do with these impulsive purchases? I would have preferred to save up for these Kyrie 2 Abominable Snowmonster kicks instead.
Of these on display, I’ve owned the (former) Chris Webber signature shoes and the heavy-as-bricks Pippens. I never owned those Barkleys and wanted the Zoom Flight 95 with “eyes” since 2007. What a vintage collection on display at Foot Locker.
Wow, my mind is so weak that I didn’t even realize that I succumbed. No pink shoes then. No pink shoes again, but then there they were – pink kicks!
Well really hyperpunch, not pink but a fine semantic line if you know what I mean. Where and when did this happen? I was looking for a higher cut shoe after some recent ankle pain and my low cut and beloved Air Max HAM beginning to wear down. Then I saw the Nike HyperDunk 2013 with this price tag of “Fiddy,” and I was sold.
No issues with fit as with my experiences with signature shoes. That outsole grip is amazing and while the shoe looks stiff, it’s pretty pliable. And there it is, pink kicks for my weak mind that didn’t realize I had pink kicks.
Click on the image below for more pics of the HyperDunk 2013.
Remember the last time I was allured by pink kicks? I eventually resisted, but the temptation returned when I saw these KD7 shoes on discount at Sports Authority. Technically, the colorway is not pink, rather hyper punch, but hey, if you had to describe these shoes, I think you’d say they’re grey and pink.
KD7 Calm Before the Storm
Doing a little bit of research, I learned these are the “Calm Before the Storm” launched in August 2014 for $150. Unlike my first pink temptation, these are for men (with a strong sense of confidence). Unfortunately, these didn’t work out for me. It’s not the confidence part, it’s my flat feet. Or maybe, it’s really Kevin Durant’s arched “skinny” feet. Since these are his signature shoes, they’re molded for his foot anatomy.
While the shoes look big and spacious, they are fairly narrow. The width of the toebox was okay but the my flat feet were squished in the mid region. And the tops of my feet were feeling some pressure. Loosening the strap helped a tiny bit but not enough. So even though, the Calm Before the Storm was in pristine (and discounted) condition, I didn’t want to get shoes that would hurt wearing them.
What do Honolulu-inspired colors look like? According to the newest Kobe X colorway, they look like this.
Influenced by Hawaii-born POTUS, Barack Obama, aka the “Commander,” Kobe’s high top elites showcase a blue palette representative of the 50th state. Not sure if I agree with the blues unless these hues represent the skies and the Pacific ocean. In any case, available on October 14, 2015.
