Help Needed!! My 180's Died, Recommend Me Some New Shoes To Ball In

[roscoe p wallace]

So while I was shootin around today I heard a squishy noise from my shoe, come to find my 180s have lived their last days...

SO, I hate to do this, but I could use a good recommendation for some new shoes
The Info....
-6'2"
-220 lbs
- Soon to be 6 knee surgeries
- Fairly flat footed
-Wide foot

Fave Shoes:
Comfort- 180 BB first gen
Court Feel- Zoom huarache 64

Because of my knee injuries I need some support, but honestly, the Zoom Air in the 64's was enough, so I don't need a full airbag like the 180s. Shoxnever feel right to me though, overall, I prefer Zoom or Max Air. The hardest thing to find is a shoe with a wide footbed. The 64's felt too long for myfoot to get the right width, and my Air Force 25's, although comfortable and plush, don't provide enough room in my toes, leading to blisters. The 180BB was a favorite because it had a wide footbed, and good impact protection, even if it was a bit clunky and high off the ground. 60-100 dollar range ispreferred. I play a mix of indoor and outdoor, I don't worry about beating on them, I don't like real flashy stuff, but if it works, I'm down withit.

-I'm considering something like Zoom BB's but am afraid they will be too narrow
-STATs maybe? Any good news on them?
-How does Adidas stack up on impact protection (can it touch Zoom?)
-Brons are a bit expensive for my taste, but if they are worth it I will consider it. (The IV is only 80 on eastbay)

Thanks a million, Lemme know

 

[gregodensbedpan]

hey, how you doing

i'm really surprised the air force 25's don't fit you well enough.. i had way too much room in the toebox myself. excellent shoe though in terms ofstability, which is what you need if your foot is fairly flat.

i'm not too sure if the LBJ IV's will fit your foot properly because of the inner sock booty in the shoe. i work in a shoe store and i've seenadults and kids alike struggling to get it in their foot.

in terms of adidas, i like the pro models personally. i've had mine for a little bit over a year now and they've been holding up pretty well. the nicething about it is that it doesn't even feel like you have to break it in. cushion was phenomenal out of the box. (i'm flat footed); for a lot of theother shoes i've had over the years i've always had a problem with ankle rollover. i could just be bringing the ball up court and my foot would justroll out. i'm wearing high cut shoes too, but the pro models i do not have that problem with. i suggest you check it out but the width might be a littleproblematic.

i have a pair of orange/grey zoom bb's at home but i haven't worn them yet.. saving it up for the summer time. i'm pretty positive the width isgoing to be an issue.

look into zoom kobe 1's. i'd tell you to try the zk2's on but i've never tried them on.. and i own the 1's. the zoom kobe 1's utilizesa full length carbon fibre spring plate in the midsole that can help with your arch. it's fairly rigid, for stability purposes. it also helps with yourfoot as well because since you're flat footed, your foot will have the tendency to naturally roll inwards. the spring plate will encourage your foot to becentered; as well as making sure your arch to not collapse inwards.

i'd tell you to try the wade 3's on as well seeing how they're a frikkin wide shoe. i'll test them at work later.. but good luck.

 

[roscoe p wallace]

Snap man, thanks for all the info, for real, gave me a real good run down there. Props.

But as far as the 25's, its odd, its not like my foot doesnt fit in well (I wear them casually all the time) its just it rubs me really wrong on my pinkietoe, both times I have balled in them for extended periods I have left with not even a blister, but literally just the top layers of skin on my pinkie toesbeing separated from the layers beneath them, like its not open, theres no flap, just it rubbed the skin loose. Goes without saying its painful.

I will look into the pro-models then, cause like I said, all I need is cushioning that is good enough, fit and court feel is most important (my knees are shot,I shouldn't be playing basketball anyway, so it just needs to be good enough).

The Wade's too, I'll look at them (even if they are a tad hideous, haha)

Thanks a lot, I'm still takin suggestions though! Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Anyone got good info on the Elite series (Air Max and Hurrache?). Fit, width, cushion, comfort?

 

[mt3130]

i have the zoom bb 2s and i think they are awesome. they are nice and wide and the fit reminds me of the kobe 1, but the full length zoom is much morecomfortable. the court feel is awesome and for a shoe with such a small midsole, they are surprisingly comfortable. the grip is awesome and works great for meon both clean and dirty courts. they are 100 but there are coupons for champs, which carries them. if you want them pm me and ill send you the upc from my boxso you can get an in-store sku for champs so they can order them if your local one doesnt carry them.

 

[gregodensbedpan]

no problem roscoe

i see it quite often in regards to the pinkie-toe issue. i'm not too sure if they make wide toeboxes for basketball shoes -- i know they do it for a lot ofrunning shoes.

and i tried the wade 3's on tonight. width would be perfect for you probably, thing is wide as hell. in addition, the shoe is made of leather.. so even ifit was a little bit snug, it would stretch over time. but i'd actually steer away from it for two reasons

a.) cushion is not that great compared to the previous wade's. i cannot pinpoint it seeing how the previous wade's use the same cushioning technology.essentially, they use compressed eva.. which is found in a lot of running shoes. a lot of running shoes use compressed eva as the midsole but the moreexpensive ones like asics (gel), nike (max air) incorporate different technologies to the midsole to make the cushioning life a lot longer. not to mention, itfeels a lot better as well. so unlike the bb's where you find responsive cushioning for zoom air and the pro model's for the adiprene+, the cushion inthis shoe will probably feel decent at first but it'll die down pretty fast.

b.) weight. this shoe is heavy, and i don't usually complain about weight. how did the AF25's feel to you weightwise? you don't want to be draggingaround extra weight because it won't help with the knee situation.

also, look into reebok's. the one's i've seen around here a fairly wide so you might have some luck with that. i know one shoe that i sell, the rbkinfinity mid works wonders for people with wide feet. someone gave an awesome for the answer 11's as well.. so check that shoe out

 

[duke4005]

Roscoe, I pretty much agree with GOB above. The adidas I have seem to fit wider than Nike's, except for the GilIIZero, but being a low I don't thinkyou would look at those. Pro Models are one of the best shoes from the last few years from any brand. The LBIV runs long for the right width, and even thoughit is an extremely well cushioned shoe, it does have a bit of an unstable feel to it. I just got a pair of TS Pro Teams, and they are a good shoe, but still alittle narrow. Have you tried the Zoom Flight 95? Older retro'd shoe, but the cushion is still great and they fit wide. I agreed with the 25, passed onthem for $35 because of the toe box. If you liked the 180, take a look at your local Ross stores, if you have any. The had almost a full size run at the oneshere in D/FW for $29.99 in white/red color. If you can get the Kobe I in your size, I highly recommend it. My favorite shoe from the last 2-3 years. It fitswide, has a flat-footed feel to it, and court feel is greatness. Get these above the others.

 

[roscoe p wallace]

GOB:

Yeah, I had a pair of Wade 1's (ox's actually, I started wearing lows after I dislocated my patella playing football, and after that it came out twiceplayin ball when I should have just rolled an ankle cause I had mids on, and my knee was weaker than my ankle) and with the Wade 1's I found the cushioningfine at first, but like you said, 4 months later, they are like playing in loafers, no cushion.

And as far as the width, like I said, I can play in 64's, the 180's are perfectly snug through the heel and midfoot, its just the toe box of theAF25's that gave me trouble. I took a look today, and if you look at them from directly above, you see the outside toe turns in really quickly at the end,leading to the rub.

I really like the feeling of tight in the middle and open in the toes, it feels secure (my Asics Kayanos, the 180BB's) and that was the only other issue Ihad with the 25's, they were wide through the whole shoe and lacked any real arch support (180BB almost ODed on this, it hurt for the first 3 uses, andthen it was money), leading to an odd, too roomy feeling. I like to not be able to slip my foot into a BBall shoe without the help of another hand or sittingdown, I like the lockdown foot conforming feeling.

And yes, lightness is proffered by me, since extra weight at the end of my leg does not do good things for my knee. That being said I read up (on here) all thereviews of the Zoom BBII, and everyone agreed they were much wider than the BBI (which I tried on and found a bit tight in the midfoot). I know that soundslike an odd choice, but like I said, if my 64's were just a half inch shorter, they would be my favorite shoe, but having any extra length makes you feellike you're playing in clown shoes. I have heard nothing but good things about them, and if they are just the right amount wider, they should be perfect.

The ProModels also look good, and I am leaning towards them a little (although playing in shoes with Zoom makes you spoiled on responsive cushioning, but thetwo levels in the Pro Models may be good enough).

I probably wont get 180's again, because as much as a i loved them, I wished they were lower to the ground in the rear (sometimes felt like you wereplaying in heels, ha)

Zoom flight 95's I would love, just finding them on the cheap (below 100) is difficult right now, and the style isn't quiet for me

Once again, thanks for all the help. Wearing 13.5/14's means you don't get to try on shoes too often, its pretty much you do all your research, hope itworks, and hit the order button, haha.

So thanks for all the suggestions guys, and mt3130, I'll be PMing you.

 

[swingshot]

-I'm considering something like Zoom BB's but am afraid they will be too narrow
-STATs maybe? Any good news on them?

-Brons are a bit expensive for my taste, but if they are worth it I will consider it. (The IV is only 80 on eastbay)





If the AF25 is too narrow for you at the toebox, you probably won't take to the BB, unless you go maybe half a size up

Stats (I'm assuming you mean the Stat one) are definitely a little on the narrow side. Good midfoot support, ankle support is nothing to write homeabout.

Haven't tried the Lebron 4. 2 and 3 ran narrow, i'd be surprised if 4 is any different.

Have you considered just buying another pair of 180s?