Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 8:40 pm  |  8 responses

Sneaker Roundup

Some sneaker info to take you into the weekend.

by Chris O’Leary/olearychris

It’s late on a Fri-day and I’ve got a boatload of sneaker related info to drop here, so let’s jump right into it.

We are all witnesses to the Air Max LeBron VII China Moon, which dropped a day early at House of Hoops locations across the US, hitting shelves this morning. This is the third colorway of the LBJ VII  to drop in as many months. This trickling of makeups on this shoe will turn into a full-on flood as the season progresses. Thanks to my uncompromising friend, the Related Stories box on the left side of the page, I’ve dropped a pic of the shoe a little bit lower down the page. Let’s hope that works out.

Life continues to get better for Houston area sneakerheads. After a House of Hoops location opened at Houston Northline last weekend, Houston Galleria’s HOH location opens Saturday. The China Moon VIIs will be available there in the morning when the store officially opens its doors. Both Houston spots will be hopping on Saturday, with Hot 95.7 DJ’s at each location, along with two members of the Houston Rockets. Trevor Ariza will be at Galleria, and Aaron Brooks will be at Northline. For those of you keeping track, Houston is the first city to have multiple HOH locations.

LBJ VII China Moon

Back when sneaker sites were hard to come by, I used to live for finding info on player editions and rare samples I’d never seen before. Thanks to forums like Niketalk and the wave of sneaker blogs that have popped up over the last few years, that info is more plentiful today. Case in point: these two Air Jordan XXI samples from John Brilliant over at Counterkicks.com. The first link takes you to the red pair, the second to the black. Personally, I’m happy that these things ran out of gas on the sample line.

With the start of the NBA season just 11 (!!!) days away, adidas launched its new campaign for the 2009-10 season this week. You’ve seen this fresh ad on SLAMTV and you’ve seen what D-Rose and Tim Duncan will be wearing this season in Kick of the Day. Here’s the nitty gritty on the sneaks and a couple of non-sneaker things that adi is hooking players up with this year. From adidas, who just revamped their basketball site:

“Dwight Howard, Duncan, and Kevin Garnett will wear the TS Commander LT, a shoe that is 6 oz. lighter than previous Commanders, giving them superior cushioning minus the added weight. Rose and Chauncey Billups will wear the TS Cut Creator which features ForMotion technology and a TPU lateral support piece to minimize stress during hard cuts.”

The Commanders will retail for $110, while the Creators will go for $90.

ts_cut_creator_2_detailIn addition to the TECHFIT compression line that adidas introduced last year, the company is unveiling a new Speedwrap ankle brace, which they say is five times more efficient than tape and reduces ankle injury risk by 40 percent.

While I’ve been lucky in my playing days with my ankles (wood duly knocked), I’m interested to see what these ankle wraps are like and just how they do what they do. I’m also interested to see if adidas starts marketing the ankle brace as an “I’m sorry” of sorts to all of the opponents that D-Rose and Chauncey cross up in the coming year. Or maybe they can make some sort of full-body armour out of them for T-Mac and Gil. Sort of like that idea of building the entire plane out of the black box, you know?

Just two weekends without regular-season NBA left, folks. Hope you’re getting ready.

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  • San Dova Posted: Oct.16 at 8:46 pm
    I asked ESPN’s David Thorpe and Bulls.com’s Sam Smith about those Speedwraps that Derrick Rose was wearing and no one could ever get me any info. Fresh column.

  • BETCATS Posted: Oct.16 at 10:04 pm
    my opinion is that the Lebrons are a abomination. Look like some fake fusions dudes buy for $35 at the local spot that doubles as the #1 supplier of ‘crackhead stay fresh’ gear.

  • thesubwayconnection Posted: Oct.17 at 3:20 am
    I would personally be interested in acquiring those ankle wraps. And you know I’d be happy to pass along first hand information about how they work out.

  • ab_40 Posted: Oct.17 at 6:34 am
    like ankle braces are a new thing haha don’t act like it’s a revolution of sorts because it isn’t. that a shoe company like adidas makes em is a new thing but ankle braces have been around for decades.

  • San Dova Posted: Oct.17 at 8:07 am
    AB_40–>
    It’s not that we are acting “like ankle braces are a new thing”–it’s that the way they are implemented and the fact that the only guy wearing those Creators in all of the NBA and college was Derrick Rose and that they were so different-looking raised eyebrows–at least they raised mine. Nobody said anything about there being “a revolution”, but then again, you don’t know if there’s something new that adidas is going to bring to the table with the brace, just like I don’t know for sure. What you’ve just said is what all these old-timers have said for decades about basketball shoes–”Air? What’cha need air for?”, “I don’t care about foam soles! Does it cover my feet?!?” It’s just sort of archaic to judge something that you don’t know about, even if it is a relatively simple modification on an existing product. It’s like what BASF says: “We don’t make the products you buy–we make the products you buy BETTER.” ‘Nuff said and shalom.

  • j4zzm4n Posted: Oct.17 at 11:21 am
    would love those ankle braces i have had enough sprains in the past two years.

  • Chris O'Leary Posted: Oct.17 at 1:02 pm
    @BETCATS you could copy paste that comment–save for the part about the fakes, maybe–onto any Air Jordan release. J’s always got hate like that when they first dropped, but by the end of the season most people were converts. I think the LBJ VII looks like a cross between the VC II and one of Converse’s D-Wade sneaks, myself. But I like them, I’m excited to get them. @ab_40 like Sandy said, I’m not talking about the invention of the ankle brace, I’m talking about something that’s stronger and more efficient than traditional braces. I know lots of people (whatup Subway!) who need these things and I’m curious how something that strong for your ankle will feel when you wear it.

  • mtgyles Posted: Oct.17 at 5:51 pm
    ahahah kinda funny rose wears those ankle braces that are supposed to help by 40% and he is out with an ankle injury right now

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