Top 5 Current Adidas Basketball Silhouettes: how today’s Adidas shoes stack up against the past

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by Brendon Schunck | Jul 30, 2019 | Featured, NBA, Sneakers

With August just a few days away that means we are one month closer to the NBA season. Late summer/early fall is prime time for signature athletes to be unveiling and releasing their new signature sneakers for the upcoming season. Tenured Adidas ambassadors James Harden, Damian Lillard, and Derrick Rose will each be releasing their fourth, sixth, and tenth signature shoes respectively. Newcomer Donovan Mitchell will be joining the ranks of Adidas basketball with the release of his own signature shoe as well. With each athlete having their own buzz surrounding their shoe, we took this opportunity to rank the top five current Adidas signature basketball silhouettes (and one non-signature) purely based on aesthetics. After doing so, we then put these five Adidas basketball shoes up against five other signature shoes (with the fifth being a non-signature) from the 90’s, early and mid 2000’s endorsed by three stripe athletes.

**Top 5 Current Adidas Basketball Silhouettes**

(1) Adidas Harden Vol. 4

Kicking off our list at the #1 spot is the (rumored) Adidas Harden Vol. 4. The 2018 NBA MVP is the clear face of Adidas basketball and his signature sneaker line seems to be pulling the most weight for the last few years. Harden’s fourth rendition in his line of shoes seems to have more depth and design elements than his rather over-simplistic third model. Any player with quick feet, likes a low-to-the-ground ride, and prefers a low-top model will most likely enjoy this shoe. Better colorways will for sure give this Vol. 4 more attention and demand when it comes to the court. Look for James Harden to be taking numerous “step-backs” in these sneakers come the 2019-20 season.

(2) Adidas Dame 6

If this was last year then Damian Lillard’s fifth signature shoe definitely would not have been this high up on the list, with his last model resembling that of a lego brick. Dame’s (rumored) sixth model looks much more sleeker and an overall appealing design compared to his last few runs. The slanted three stripes up by the collar of the shoe is a nice touch and it already looks like some flashy color options are on the way. Apart from the overwhelming demand for Hardens when it comes to Adidas basketball, don’t be surprised to see a good amount of hoopers lacing up the Dame 6 during the 2019-20 campaign.

(3) Adidas D.O.N. Issue #1

In what looks to be a very promising first signature sneaker, Donovan Mitchell takes the third spot in our Top 5 Current Adidas Basketball Silhouettes. Mitchell is young, explosive, a scorer, a leader, and has a great personality. All of that, along with him being on a contending Utah Jazz team, will for sure help him move units with his D.O.N. Issue #1′s. Mitchell’s “Spida” logo sits predominantly on the tongue of his shoe as well as a clean looking toe in the front. So far, the colorways on Mitchell’s shoes pave the way for an exciting season to come. Can Spida’s signature line end up contending with the likes of Harden and D-Lillard’s?

(4) Adidas D-Rose 10

Yes, it’s true, if you didn’t know, Derrick Rose still has a signature line going with Adidas even after all of his injuries, jumping from team to team, and currently being a back-up in the NBA. D-Rose signed a 13-year $185M contract with the three stripes back in 2012 so Adidas is still paying him and more than likely has an obligation to keep pumping out signature models for him. This model sits at #4 on our list due to it being a little chunky and “boot-like.” It’s as if the D-Rose line is an afterthought at this point when it comes to design because basketball players just aren’t demanding them in the U.S. Thoughts about D-Rose and his line of sneakers take a complete 180 when you’re over in China. Rose is still one of the most popular athletes in all of China with his jerseys and sneakers being in high demand annually.

(5) Adidas N3xt L3v3l

Adidas likes to push the envelope when it comes to design and doing new concepts. A shoe with no laces, no straps, no velcro, and no zippers? – sign Adidas up for that shoe! The Adidas N3xt L3v3l will for sure catch your eye on a sneaker shelf but possibly the biggest thing the shoe has going for it is that Trae Young wears it on court. Young, Adidas’ budding young ambassador, came in second place for the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year Award. The shoe is intriguing as it is bold, and hey, at least you never have to worry about them coming untied! With Trae Young being an Adidas athlete on the rise, do you see him getting his own signature sneaker line in the future?

**Top 5 Adidas Basketball Silhouettes from the Past (90’s, early and mid-2000’s)**

(1) Adidas Crazy 8 (KB8)

Originally debuting in 1998, the Adidas Crazy 8 (originally called “Adidas KB8”), was endorsed by Kobe Bryant. The three stripes had to change the name to “Crazy 8” during the shoe’s initial retro run in 2007 since Kobe was obviously under contract with Nike. Adidas’ 90’s/early 2000’s basketball sneakers had bold lines and futuristic design elements, some with better fan reception than others (**cough** Adidas Kobe 2). The Crazy 8 has always been a favorite amongst both basketball players and casual wearers. Derrick Rose wore a few colorways back when he was with the Bulls along with former Adidas endorser, Jimmy Butler. Putting the Adidas Crazy 8 at our #1 spot was an easy decision.

(2) Adidas T-Mac 2

At one point Tracy McGrady was one of the baddest men in the entire league. As a defender, you did not want to see T-Mac rolling down the lane ready to put you on yet another one of his posters. The shoe was originally released in 2003 and is considered one of, if not the best, of his entire line. The five stripes angling across the front toe of each shoe gave the pair a streamlined look. It also didn’t hurt that Tracy McGrady was dominating the league at this point in time and he had one of the sickest logos of any signature athlete ever. Lebron James even wore this model in high school as Adidas was the official outfitter of his SVSM squad. If you were hooping in the early 2000’s then you definitely know why these deserve the #2 spot on our list.

(3) Adidas Gil-Zero Low

You can’t mention killers on the court in the NBA from the mid-2000’s without the name Gilbert Arenas. Arenas was a match-up nightmare and it seemed as if every morning Sports Center was showing another one of his buzzer beater game-winning jump shots. Arenas had a brief stint with Adidas, but he had one surefire hit on his hands with the Gil-Zero that released in 2006. Released in both mid and low-cut form, Arenas opted to rock the low-cut version, years before Kobe’s 4th signature installment made low-cut basketball shoes even more mainstream. 2006 had to be the height of Arenas’ sneaker days, as it was only a few years later that he was a sneaker free agent and his signature line was long gone. Oddly enough, Gil became more known for what he chose to wear on court when he wasn’t apart of the three stripes anymore.

(4) Adidas Garnett 3

The Adidas Garnett 3 was originally released in 2006 and was KG’s last signature sneaker as a member of the Timberwolves. The shoe featured leather uppers and full-length “bounce” cushioning. Adidas hasn’t used this type of bounce cushioning in many years and have instead created a new cushion, but chose to also call it “bounce” (Alpha Bounce, Pro Bounce, etc.). Hard to believe that at one point in the mid-2000’s Adidas had a stacked line-up of prime Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas, and Dwight Howard all marketing their basketball sneakers. The demand for “big men” shoes just isn’t there like it used to be.

(5) Adidas Pro Model S

Back in the mid-2000’s Adidas wanted to revive their classic Pro Model sneaker, but make it a suitable performer for on the court in today’s standards. Originally coming to retail during the 2007/2008 season, the Adidas Pro Model S was a favorite for team basketball. This model was offered in literally dozens of colorways, to match any team color. Additionally, ‘three stripe’ plastic inserts came with each pair so you could further accentuate your shoes to match any uniform concept. The Pro Model S bridged the gap between classic basketball and new-age performer, and was a lock for the #5 pick on our list.

Jul 30, 2019 No Comments

A.J. Green Out Six to Eight Weeks After Tearing Ligaments in Ankle

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by Brandon Jefferson | Jul 28, 2019 | Featured, NFL

The NFL is back. Fans and teams around the country are chomping at the bit to see players back on the field.

In Cincinnati, that excitement is doubled as the team is in their first season under new head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor is the most recent addition to the Sean McVay coaching tree after spending the last two years as an assistant (assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 and quarterbacks coach in 2018) with the Los Angeles Rams.

After more than a decade of Marvin Lewis calling the shots the change was a jolt of new life into the franchise.

Though the Bengals have been disappointing as of late there is plenty of offensive talent on this roster. The headliner is wide receiver A.J. Green. He ranks among the top 15 in receptions (602) among active players, among the top 10 in receiving yards (8,907), and among the top 10 in receiving touchdowns (63).

At yesterday’s practice, Green went down with an undisclosed injury during the team’s 7-on-7 drills. It was reported that he was carted off the field and a picture of him on crutches with his lower left leg wrapped in a towel made the rounds on the internet.

Turns out that Green tore ligaments in his ankle and will be out between six and eight weeks. He will get a second opinion but at the moment it seems like there won’t be any surgery required.

As part of the NFL’s celebration of their 100th season, Cincinnati practiced at the University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium—the first NFL game was played in Dayton—but reports are that field conditions were subpar compared to NFL standards. The league will look into whether or not the field conditions had an involvement in Green’s untimely injury.

Entering the final year of his deal, Green (30), was hoping to get a new deal negotiated before the beginning of the season and opted against holding out believing that he and the team could embark in good-faith negotiations as he trained with the team.

Last year we saw the Seattle Seahawks safety start the season without a new contract and suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. Thankfully Green won’t be lost for the entire year. In a sport like football where injuries are more likely to happen, players wanting to lock down guaranteed money are often vilified for keeping themselves off the field and not risking their bodies.

This setback for Green will likely keep him and Cincinnati from agreeing to a new deal—prior to the injury Green has missed 13 games over the last three seasons.

Jul 28, 2019 No Comments

Fantasy Football 2019 – Draft Guide – 10 Man/Standard Scoring

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by admin | Jul 28, 2019 | Featured, NFL

There are plenty of different drafting strategies when the day of your Fantasy Football draft arrives. There are also different levels of Fantasy Football. At the bottom of the levels are the home leagues. These are leagues comprised of long time buddies who share the love of sports like football. Drafting in these leagues is much easier, as many times some of your friends don’t pay close attention to the off season and training camp. In these leagues, the big names always go early, but that doesn’t mean they are the best value at that position. For instance, in many home leagues Patrick Mahomes will be selected in the first two rounds. Aaron Rodgers might be too! Take advantage of this draft guide and become a smarter Fantasy Football player. There are also leagues with more experienced players who follow the headlines closely. Here, it is much harder to steal players late in the draft as not many people reach for overrated big names. Whatever your situation happens to be, I have assembled a strategy here that has helped me consistently finish at the top of my league.

Now, let’s get to the draft! Big Thank you to the team at Fantasy Pros and Draft Wizard for making this mock draft possible.

Round 1: With the clear top 4 RB off the board, there is a tough decision to make. Go for the best WR or the next best RB, David Johnson. There is some uncertainty with Johnson in the new system, but in my opinion you must secure a high tier RB in the first round. I love Hopkins but I can find WR value in rounds to come.

Round 2: My plan was to select another RB with my 2nd pick as well. But the sight of Odell Beckham Jr. still on the board was too much, even with my love for Nick Chubb, the next best RB. Odell will single handedly win you some weeks, and now I have a superstar RB and WR after two rounds.

Round 3: Really wanting to select another RB in this round, I found myself in a similar situation. It seems as though Tyreek Hill will be eligible to play in all 16 games this year, and at the end of the third round? Yes, Please.

Round 4: Now I seriously need another RB, no matter who the available WRs happen to be. AJ Green is enticing, but he isn’t Odell or Tyreek. The best available RBs are Kerryon Johnson, Josh Jacobs and Sony Michel. I don’t like the state of Michel’s knees at this early an age. The Patriots selected RB Damien Harris for a reason. Josh Jacobs seems to be the starter in Oakland, but just how effective will that offense be? Game flow in losing games might lead Jalen Richard to a lot of 2nd half playtime. That leaves me with Kerryon Johnson, who showed flashes of greatness in his rookie campaign last year. He did also sustain an injury but I do believe Kerryon has the ability to be an every down back, and the Lions need all the offense they can get.

Round 5: Now with 2 WRs and 2 RBs, I wanted to select another RB to solidify a FLEX with a high floor. For this reason I went with Chris Carson, who happens to be the lead RB on the offense who ran the ball the most out of any team last year. He has great value here, as even if he doesn’t score a TD, his high floor makes him a great play alongside more volatile players such as Tyreek Hill and Kerryon Johnson.

Round 6: This is where it starts to get interesting. Round 6 and on is where you can find great sleepers and players with enormous value that their ADP might not justify. I have 3 solid RBs and 2 unbelievable WRs. Now I want to grab a third WR with a solid floor like Carson. Tyler Lockett and Alshon Jeffery are there, but D.J. Moore is more intriguing. He is the clear cut #1 WR on CAR with the departure of Devin Funchess, and Moore had 7 or more targets in 6 out of his final 7 games of 2018.

Round 7: With 3 RBs and WRs, I took a look at the available TEs. Kelce, Kittle, Etrz, Howard, Henry and Engram are the consensus top 6, and after that there is a significant drop off. Lucky enough, the 6th best TE Evan Engram was still available. Elite value in the seventh round. Engram will be the #1 option in the Giants passing game.

Round 8: I wanted to draft my 4th RB here, but really wasn’t interested in the top options. Round 8 is too early to start grabbing rookies that still have an uphill climb on the depth chart. I wanted a player in a good offense, and for that reason I selected Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery.

Round 9: With these mid-late round picks I like to either draft a consistent player or a player with major upside. I decided to go with one of the top RBs available in Rashaad Penny. Penny is the clear handcuff to Chris Carson. If anything happens with Carson, Penny will be in for a ton of work. Penny showed glimpses of his potential in his rookie year last year, but only played a limited role for the Seahawks.

Round 10: This is about where I like to see what is left at the QB position. Since this is a 10 man, standard scoring league I know that only 9 QBs have been selected so far. No one is crazy enough to draft their backup already. The best available QBs are Cam Newton, Drew Brees and Jared Goff. I like Newton’s floor with his running ability but he is too inconsistent. This very well could be Goff’s best year as a pro but I’m going with Mr. Reliable and selecting Drew Brees.

Round 11: I now have all of my starters besides D/ST & K. I already have two decent bench players. Now I start to reach for potential sleepers or players that are significantly undervalued at their ADP. I don’t love any of the RBs available, and I know I can still wait a few rounds before drafting unknown rookies. But there is still a lot of value remaining at WR. Reports coming from Green Bay say that Marquez Valdes Scantling has been excellent at camp and will be the starting slot WR. With the potential of being the #2 WR in an Aaron Rodgers offense, I’ll take that in the 11th round.

Round 12: This is about where the undervalued rookies start to fall. But before I drafted any of them, I saw Jerick Mckinnon still on the board. Yes he is coming off an ACL tear, and yes the 49ers signed Tevin Coleman. But all reports seem like they will split touches in the backfield, which means anything could end up happening.

Round 13: This is the point in the draft when most players lose interest and just randomly select the best player available. This is an amazing opportunity to draft rookies with the potential to become starters some time throughout year 1. With tremendous upside, I drafted rookie out of Oklahoma St. Justice Hill. Even in a messy backfield, Hill has the chance to breakout in his rookie campaign. Mark Ingram and Gus Edwards are good backs, but there is no reason not to take a chance on Hill at this position.

Round 14: With 3 picks remaining, I wanted to select another rookie with potential. This time I went with Kalen Ballage, RB for the Miami Dolphins. Miami doesn’t have a great offense, and will be down in most of their games, but they don’t have much in the backfield. Kenyon Drake is nice, but has he proven his ability as a 3-down back? I don’t think so. It might take a while, but Ballage could make his way to the starting tailback by the end of the season.

Round 15: Second to last round is where I will select my D/ST. Of the best available, the Los Angeles Chargers were the no doubt selection.

Round 16: Last but not least the Kicker. Kickers can win and lose you weeks, but it is often pretty random. My advice with kickers is just go with someone on a good offense that you know will have plenty of opportunities per game. I went with Ka’imi Fairbairn of the Houston Texans.

Below are some graphs that represent my team versus the others in my league. It projects the standings and shows the rosters for each team. Let me know what you think of this draft/anything you would like me to cover. Leave a comment or DM me on Instagram @NFL_SR.

Jul 28, 2019 No Comments

New York Giants Wide Receiver Corps Takes a Hit

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by Brandon Jefferson | Jul 27, 2019 | Featured, NFL

When the New York Giants traded All-Pro wide receiver, Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns this offseason many joked that running back, Saquon Barkley was now the team’s best wide receiver. Just three days into training camp that might be true.

On the first day, the Giants lost starting wide receiver Sterling Shepard for a few weeks after he fractured his thumb. The team officially lists him as day-to-day but the expectation is that he could miss Week 1 of the 2019 NFL season.

Next, speedster Corey Coleman—who was supposed to serve as the team’s deep threat with Beckham now in the AFC—went down in the team’s second practice. The former Baylor standout suffered a torn ACL in New York’s second training camp practice.

That left Golden Tate (who the team signed in the offseason to replace OBJ) as the last healthy potential starter available. However, news broke today that Tate is facing a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. The suspension hasn’t been announced by the league yet but Tate has let it be known that he plans to appeal the suspension.

Without Tate, Shepard, and Coleman these are the players left at wide receiver for the Giants: Benny Fowler, Cody Latimer, Russell Shepard, Darius Slayton, Alonzo Russell, Brittan Golden, Reggie White Jr., Alex Wesley, and Da’Mari Scott.

The preseason will now give those 10 players a bigger opportunity to make their mark with this team. Fowler and Latimer both started their NFL careers in 2014 with the Denver Broncos and Shepard is a seven-year veteran.

Even before the injuries and suspensions, there was intrigue surrounding how the franchise would replace a talent like Beckham Jr. and now the question reverberates even larger for the Giants.

Jul 27, 2019 No Comments

Bobby Wagner Becomes Highest-Paid Linebacker in NFL

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by Brandon Jefferson | Jul 27, 2019 | Featured, NFL

With training camps officially underway for all 32 NFL teams, the storyline early has been about the players who didn’t show up. Pro Bowl players like Melvin Gordon, Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas, Trent Williams, and Yannick Ngakoue have opted to start the 2019 season as holdouts.

In Seattle, the Seahawks have not had any drama with their elite players. On the contrary, the team just announced that they have agreed to a three-year, $54 million extension with stud linebacker, Bobby Wagner (according to Turner Sports’ Taylor Rooks). The All-Pro inside linebacker had made it known to the team that he was looking for a new deal as he was entering the final year of his previous contract.

Wagner was drafted by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft and ever since then his presence has been a staple of Seattle’s defense.

Last season, another big piece of the team’s defense, Earl Thomas, was upset over his lack of a new deal prior to the start of the season. No new contract was agreed upon and Thomas ended up fracturing his leg—and relationship with Pete Carroll—and ultimately ended up signing with the Baltimore Ravens this offseason.

By locking down Wagner before the season, any talk or supposed distraction about Wagner’s future in Seattle is gone and the team can fully focus on what’s happening on the field.

Becoming the highest paid linebacker in football isn’t the first accolade for Wagner this summer. A few weeks ago it was announced that he would be part of the Madden 20 “99 Club” (one of four players to be awarded with the game’s highest ranking).

Jul 27, 2019 No Comments

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