Initial Thoughts/Impressions
I was able to play in these a bit last night for full court 5s and this morning for some shoot around and 2s, and I gotta say, these are money so far
The cushioning is easily my favorite thing about this shoe. While they feel heavy initially, the cushioning gives you the perfect amount of impact protection while not sacrificing any court feel so you don’t really think about them being on your feet. The LightStrike + Boost implementation is done really really well on these shoes.
The fit is also something I thought would make me not like these on-court, but the length in the toe-box doesn’t really affect you when you’re cutting, running, and jumping. It’s not like the Curry 8, where an abrupt stop will cause you to jam all your toes at the front of the shoe. And I thought heel slippage might be an issue but somehow it was not.
Stability is also VERY sound in these. The shoe seemingly has a low center of gravity so I was able to play without my ankle braces and didn’t feel any risk of roll-overs on cuts and jumps. On a side note - I have no idea how TY wears these with braces, as getting the shoe on your foot is the only negative to these lol. So far I have not had any issues with stability, nor do I feel unsafe playing in these.
Traction was surprisingly good, and I don’t mean to say that due to the pattern of the tread, but more so because the Ice Trae colorway has that translucent outsole and those usually don’t seem to be as grippy over time. That initial bite is nice, but as dust accumulates, you’ll lose the traction, especially with translucent over solid outsoles. But so far, no issues with the traction!
Overall, the heel to toe transition, along with the cushioning implementation and great traction make it a really great ride. The price is a little steep for a shoe that doesn’t have great materials at all (they are cheap lol - no other way to put it), but for those who want court feel, combined with a very comfy cushioning implementation, will love these. I am interested to see how these will hold up over time and will keep y’all posted!