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- Dec 13, 2004
Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I had a discussion with someone from another forum and he said that there hasn't been a decent basketball shoe made since '97, performance-wise. He has highly regarded the Air Force III as the best performing basketball shoe and that shoes now are just for fashion and that zoom air, flywire, pod system, lunar foam, etc... are all gimmicks.
I told him that he was wrong and that there are great basketball shoes today and they are much better than the shoes made 10-20 years ago, just for the tech alone.
That is the summary but here's the actual discussion:
He said:
If anyone at Nike is listening, please go back to designing shoes for performance. I havent bought a decent pair of basketball shoes since '97. I'd take a pair of '89 Air Force III's over anything available today.
My response was:
There are tons of great basketball shoe out right now. In recent memory, the Kove III, IV and V are all great. The Zoom BB1, BB2 and BB3, although were released in limited productions are all great. The Air Jordan 2010, even though it has a stupid peep-hole, is one of the best basketball shoes out right now and the tech is always updated to enhance performance. Air Jordan always aims for performance with their shoes and the Air Jordan XIV is still one of my favorite shoes on court. Lebrons James' line of shoes are great, the Soldiers are good beaters indoors or out. The Huaraches, Zoom Speed and Hyperdunks are all pretty good too.
There are tons of great basketball shoes out right now, from the fully loaded zoom air to the new tech like lunarfoam and flywire.
His rebuttal was:
This is total BS. I dont know how old you are but the stuff you are mentioning is designed for style and not function. I've tried most of those shoes on and they dont make the grade by a mile. In fact they SUCK. They $$$ but SUCK.
I worked at Foot Locker as a teen in the late 80's and its sad to say but true that while technology and material has improved their function hasn't. Over and over again they present some gimmick and try and sell it. It seems like every shoe out there now is an attempt to reinvent the Reebok Pump... amemba dose?
And most of today's stuff is not much better.
This is not just true for BBall, its true for tennis as well. The Nike Air Ace 3/4 was the best tennis shoe I ever owned (1990), and they were there for a year and gone. Bought 2 pairs, stupid me. I wasnt the only one, I had a few customers buy a few pairs of them because they agreed they were great.
The reality is that this industry is all about fashion now and performance is second. Lebron and Kobe wear that %*@# because they are paid, not because its the best shoe. If the model were different, where athletes wore the best shoe then you'd see a premium on performance.
And I said:
Fashion? What are you talking about? Have you tried on any of these shoes and played in them? I have tried on probably half of the shoes I've mentioned both indoors and outdoors and they all perform well and I have been playing basketball since the early 90's. You can't say Lunarfoam, pod system and flywire are for fashion, those can't even be seen as their are the sole/insole of the shoe. Flywire, I could see being fashion but it also functions well, making the shoe very light yet robust at the same time.
To say the new tech hasn't improved and functioned well is flat out not true. They are more than just gimmick, they actually perform well. The days of gimmicky pumps or helium are over, the new techs are great and enhances performance. Even the stupid Shox actually serves a purpose.
I play basketball maybe 2-4 times a week and put these shoes to the test and I admit some suck big time but to say that none are any good is just crazy. Nike/Jordan retro are being made for fashion, the recent releases, not so much. I mean I love how the Kobe V performs, many people (including basketball players) are calling it an almost perfect basketball shoe but it can be one butt ugly shoe so I would not call it fashionable at all.
He responded with:
The reason bball players say that is because they never played with anything different or better. Again, I dont know how old you are, but bball shoes were better 10-15 even 20 years ago than now.
I think you fall for the gimmicks.
Everything I try on now is way too stiff in the wrong places, and doesnt flex properly in the right places.
Right now, because they were the best of a bad breed, I have a pair of air zoom's but they suck.
While this isnt the Air Force 3 I was thinking of, its close... the STS, just simply a better shoe to play in, flex points at the back of the ankle, front, toe, and ball, nice and high, easy to lace, the right amount of cushioning and padding.
Now I know some may believe that some of these maybe gimmicks and I know the hate for lunarfoam at times but you still got to admit it is better than what was made 10-20 years ago right? Today, there is no way you would play basketball in Air Force III over the LBJ Soldiers or Kobe V's. I think he is just reliving his old days and can't/won't adapt to the new, but that is just one mans opinion.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with him?
I told him that he was wrong and that there are great basketball shoes today and they are much better than the shoes made 10-20 years ago, just for the tech alone.
That is the summary but here's the actual discussion:
He said:
If anyone at Nike is listening, please go back to designing shoes for performance. I havent bought a decent pair of basketball shoes since '97. I'd take a pair of '89 Air Force III's over anything available today.
My response was:
There are tons of great basketball shoe out right now. In recent memory, the Kove III, IV and V are all great. The Zoom BB1, BB2 and BB3, although were released in limited productions are all great. The Air Jordan 2010, even though it has a stupid peep-hole, is one of the best basketball shoes out right now and the tech is always updated to enhance performance. Air Jordan always aims for performance with their shoes and the Air Jordan XIV is still one of my favorite shoes on court. Lebrons James' line of shoes are great, the Soldiers are good beaters indoors or out. The Huaraches, Zoom Speed and Hyperdunks are all pretty good too.
There are tons of great basketball shoes out right now, from the fully loaded zoom air to the new tech like lunarfoam and flywire.
His rebuttal was:
This is total BS. I dont know how old you are but the stuff you are mentioning is designed for style and not function. I've tried most of those shoes on and they dont make the grade by a mile. In fact they SUCK. They $$$ but SUCK.
I worked at Foot Locker as a teen in the late 80's and its sad to say but true that while technology and material has improved their function hasn't. Over and over again they present some gimmick and try and sell it. It seems like every shoe out there now is an attempt to reinvent the Reebok Pump... amemba dose?
And most of today's stuff is not much better.
This is not just true for BBall, its true for tennis as well. The Nike Air Ace 3/4 was the best tennis shoe I ever owned (1990), and they were there for a year and gone. Bought 2 pairs, stupid me. I wasnt the only one, I had a few customers buy a few pairs of them because they agreed they were great.
The reality is that this industry is all about fashion now and performance is second. Lebron and Kobe wear that %*@# because they are paid, not because its the best shoe. If the model were different, where athletes wore the best shoe then you'd see a premium on performance.
And I said:
Fashion? What are you talking about? Have you tried on any of these shoes and played in them? I have tried on probably half of the shoes I've mentioned both indoors and outdoors and they all perform well and I have been playing basketball since the early 90's. You can't say Lunarfoam, pod system and flywire are for fashion, those can't even be seen as their are the sole/insole of the shoe. Flywire, I could see being fashion but it also functions well, making the shoe very light yet robust at the same time.
To say the new tech hasn't improved and functioned well is flat out not true. They are more than just gimmick, they actually perform well. The days of gimmicky pumps or helium are over, the new techs are great and enhances performance. Even the stupid Shox actually serves a purpose.
I play basketball maybe 2-4 times a week and put these shoes to the test and I admit some suck big time but to say that none are any good is just crazy. Nike/Jordan retro are being made for fashion, the recent releases, not so much. I mean I love how the Kobe V performs, many people (including basketball players) are calling it an almost perfect basketball shoe but it can be one butt ugly shoe so I would not call it fashionable at all.
He responded with:
The reason bball players say that is because they never played with anything different or better. Again, I dont know how old you are, but bball shoes were better 10-15 even 20 years ago than now.
I think you fall for the gimmicks.
Everything I try on now is way too stiff in the wrong places, and doesnt flex properly in the right places.
Right now, because they were the best of a bad breed, I have a pair of air zoom's but they suck.
While this isnt the Air Force 3 I was thinking of, its close... the STS, just simply a better shoe to play in, flex points at the back of the ankle, front, toe, and ball, nice and high, easy to lace, the right amount of cushioning and padding.
Now I know some may believe that some of these maybe gimmicks and I know the hate for lunarfoam at times but you still got to admit it is better than what was made 10-20 years ago right? Today, there is no way you would play basketball in Air Force III over the LBJ Soldiers or Kobe V's. I think he is just reliving his old days and can't/won't adapt to the new, but that is just one mans opinion.
What do you guys think? Do you agree with him?