And the winner is...

This blog is made mostly for Nene (you better be reading this right now :P) because over the last 3 years I've told him about my adventure on finding my basketball shoes for the year. Feel free to continue reading if you go by another name, but I'm just warning you that you might not get anything out of it.

 

So I took the 45 minute drive to a bigger city since we don't have any good options for shoes around here, and I don't like ordering basketball shoes online because I can't get a feel for them (and plus I don't like to wait for them to be mailed). First store I went to had a fairly small selection, but they had some nice looking shoes. Most of them were Jordans, which I've come to the conclusion that while they are probably the sharpest looking brand of basketball shoes you can buy, you can find ones that perform better. Two pairs caught my eye, both looked good and I had read good things about them. The Zoom Soldier III and the Hyperizers.

 

I didn't want to make a commitment too soon so I went to check out some other stores in the mall. The next store didn't have a whole lot, but there were some LeBron VI's for only $80. Still I wanted to look around a little though so I went across the mall to the next store.

 

 

Over here they had the TS Cut Creators for $20 cheaper than I had seen them listed at online and also had the Hyperize and LeBron VI's. By this time I had decided that I didn't like the Soldier III that much but I was able to try on the other 3 pairs.

 

First up the TS Cut Creators. I had wanted to try these mostly because I'm a big fan of Rose and consider myself to have a similar playing style to him. They felt a little heavy (especially for not being a high top), the material seemed kind of cheap, and they overall just seemed like a mediocre shoe. They were comfortable though.

 

 

Next were the Hyperize. When I first put these on it was breath taking. Walking around I could barely tell that I even had a shoe on at all. It could be a big benefit having a lightweight shoe when jumping is a big part of my game. The shoes were fairly comfortable even with the sacrifice of padding, and as far as breathability goes these are probably the best I've ever put on. There's only two concerns I have with the shoes. One is that I'm not sure if they can take a beating on the court as light as they are, and the other is that I simply don't like how they lace up. It kind of feels like a boxing shoe.

 

The LeBron VI's look very nice, definitely the best for the eye out of the 3, but it didn't take long after putting them on to realize that they weren't as good for my feet. They had a great amount of support in them all around, but they were clunky. Almost like a light boot. I think they'd be a great shoe for a bigger player but they dont fit my game. It's too bad because I really liked the design.

 

I guess it's pretty obvious from my mini-reviews which shoes I picked.

 

At the store where I tried all the shoes on they only had the Hyperize in all black, but the store I had been to earlier had them in Black/Varsity Red/White for $110. I hated to tell the guy I was going to look somewhere else after he had let me try on all those shoes, but I went back to the first store and picked them up.

 

I had wanted to at least try some of the Kobe IV's because I think they're supposed to be the lightest shoe ever made by Nike, but none of the stores had them in stock. I'm not sure if I would've liked them since they're mids, but I'd like to just see how they feel.

 

Hopefully the Hyperize are good though and make me like Mo, Durant, Rashard, and Iggy. Now back to watching the Packers and Vikings. We better show Favre who the best team in the NFC North is.