by the time this thread is locked..... Mister jack j will be on ignore by everyone......... Its sad that this is a forum where people can get along and talkabout shoes in a simple friendly matter but this dude insists to pound on his chest and proclaim that adidas is this and that and how Nike is this and that...Hopefully mods can see that this belongs in the review forum.
Just to clarify. I was not saying you have to be a shoe reviewer to be an EXPERT. If that came out wrong I apologize. I will remove BillyWhiteDirk from anything you may think I would be Bias about. BUT.. I would take the word of Professor K, over EVEN words from me put on a board as he reviewed MANY shoes from MANY brands. The Typical consumer does NOT dothis. buy several shoes from several Brands.. there fore Jack J telling me something is far superior to something else is VERY bias compared to what a Shoereviewer with no affiliation or loyalty to a brand would have. I can't honestly speak on how GREAT a shoe from another company might be, because I don't try other shoes for performance. I haven't since I was achild. i won't take that chance with my feet. I'd rather take a chance with a product that has failed me fewer times than others that HAD that chance. FAR before I was here as an employee. Can I saybad things about Nike? Of course.. I do it in meetings, and I do it here at LEAST once a day publicly. Its why I am respected for my views on things IN and outside the walls in Beaverton. Do I have a jaded view on Nike Products OVER other Brands..? Of course.Blinded? never. I want to make Nike better than it is. If I found no fault with it, how can I make it any better than it is? How do I make a difference? Is marketing phenominal here? Yes... Can it be better... By Miles. I have that Baton..and I am running with it. See Jack J. unlike MANY who think they can make things better with a situation, I realize I have to understand how the processes work as well as how decisionwere made before. Are all decisions made by Nike made for sustainment and continuous marketing of a Product? Of course not. Sometimes you need the Quick hittersuccess. I personally think the concept of the HoH is years late, and some of the execution is Poo poo. I am not afraid to say that here or in a meeting, but i am tryinto do EVERYTHING possible to make sure it sustains being a 50 store Concept or someone's idea brought to fruition will fail big time. Just like Adidas putting out One shoe to be good enough for FIVE star players. Negative. Each player has their own style and game, which compels one to alloweach players game to speak thru their shoe on the court. I don't agree that Lebron Should be strictly a Zoom Air player.. as one of my collegues NOT in Nike Basketball said, he should be a FORCE player. If Lebronlikes Zoom... Combine Force with Zoom to create a new Product which takes the public by surprise and ...I;ve said too much... But you get the gist.. I don't want to ramble, but I wanted to clarify...
I got you, but that first point is horribly made. Professor K is no more qualified to review a shoe than a blindfolded kid on the street. You wanna talkbias? That guy damn near made a joke of Reebok on his site, by flexing a shoe in an odd manner, but forgetting that a HIGH end Nike shoe, the Flightposite IIIflexed in the same manner.That guy had the biggest agenda of all. Now he works for Nike. Nope, no bias there! SMH.... The people who laud the ZKII in magazines like*[email protected]%#%+!#**%#% should NOT be trusted anyway! It's not a ballplayers mag! It's a pseudo fashion/kicks mag,with a bunch of pretentious people showing off how many shoes they have. What does that have to do with hoops? So is someone who really plays ball is supposed agree with that? Since I actually play ball, at a HIGH level, along with those who I respect the heck out of on court, we KNOW that there is no such thing as a "guardshoe". Adidas is right on point with what they are doing. Back in the day everyone wore the same thing. Many College teams rock one shoe. Today, the wholeOhio State crew is wearing the LBJ5's , as last year they all wore that boot of a 4, which shows that you don't know what you are talking about inregard to a players needs The only difference between College and the Pros is MONEY. In the pros you can market the individual, it's not that way inCollege. What Adidas is doing is bringing back the TEAM concept. WE not ME. This is something that Nike knows nothing about, as their roster is filled with a bunch ofspoiled punks, who are nothing but about themselves. See KOBE, see VICK. Nike markets the individual, I say you keep on doing it, because I love seeing Nikefail at this. The sig shoe is done. So please, Stevie Wonder can see what is going on here. Good luck with ya' new gig with Nike Rock, I have no ill will against you, as you are just doing your job.
you know I can understand you hate kobe and not a big fan of nike or whoever seems to review a nike shoe..it's ok that you hate professor k cause you had abad experience with the hyperflights..I mean honestly professor k wasnt a fan of the hyperflights either if that really makes any difference but what I reallycant seem to understand is how you constantly want to brag about yourself.Seriously in just this post alone 2 business',play a high level ofbasketball,knicks season ticket holder..If this is your kobe beef thread..then stick to kobe..quit trying to justify yourself and build yourself up into thisGIANT ohhhh Jack Johnson is this and that I'm soo impressed because he can bend over and kiss his own butt.Seriously dude..who you trying to impress?do youjust drop what you do or who you know because it'll give you credibility or not make you sound like youre full of it?
My thoughts: -These shoes weren't marketed right. Nike certainly took a hefty risk in releasing these all at the sametime. This community can argue for days about whether Kobe is marketable, how successful his commercial would be, but these shoes should've been releasedat different points of the year-similar to the Lebron line. The game shoe releases in the Fall for team ballplayers, the Soldier is released in the summer forBlacktop/AAU squads, and that ST joint was marketed strictly as a casual offering. I think something like: Kobe 'Ultimates' released in the Fall,Strengths released in the summer, and maybe the Lites released as a limited playoff release would've worked best. That way, the uneducated customer doesnot feel inundated with Kobe from every angle. -Performance wise, these are a mixed bag. To me it's tough to assert that this shoe was the 'beston the market' in 2007 because of the cosmetic issues some wearers experienced. Many complained that the strap didn't say in-place during play. Then ofcourse, you have the Achilles issue. For many, wearing thicker, heavier, or longer socks didn't remedy the issue of sometimes excruciating pain. I have noclue as to what significance that piece played towards the overall design, but Nike could've easily reduced weight and greatly increased comfort by using aLycra based Achilles Pad. The Zoom Free offered an incredibly sensory ride underfoot almost out the box, but I wish the Free portion of the outsole was moredurable. The Strength should've implemented some mesh overlays or mesh inlays to cope with almost no breathability. Certainly an interesting concept, and Ihope Nike can continue to bring it along. -Rock, can you touch on the "I don't trust my feet in anything else" stance?
Still waiting on the USA IIs with a decent price and size..might just cop now with those prices they have on Ebay
Jack you know what, you're a moron plain and simple. I've tried to not say anything out of context but I'm done with your ignorance. So the #8 onthe 2k4 should tell us something? Tell us what Jack? Who in the hell else do you know that has worn the #8 and has had that much popularity? Reality is the #8is on there because consumers wanted those 2K4s when they were PEs with the #8 and Nike delivered, not to mention it's the shoe he wore when he was #8. Yousay you know what subjective means but it sure doesn't seem like it. You say sales figures dont matter and that it's a flop because the Lite didn'trelease. Big deal the Lite didn't release...ooooooooo nooooooo...the fact that people in the states are willing to dish out 180 to get the lite from Asiashows that it would have done well. But you know what no matter what anyone says you're right Jack, why because you lack the intellectual capacity toprocess thought and listen to what you want as what you say is the only thing that is right to you. Sales figures will speak and will either prove what you aresaying and what you're not. You say you run 2 businesses yet you're on NT all the time not to mention you're lack of respect leads to me to believeotherwise. I'm sure you have ignored me by now so thanks for demonstrating to me that what I'm saying is right and you can't stand it. get a lifeJack.
All points wonderfully made. This is why I've put every Laker/Kobe fan on ignore, because you are the type of person that this post was intendedfor. Mr Deep doesn't realize how contradictory his statements are, in regard to his loyalties. "I dont trust my feet in anything else", proves histilt toward a company that makes more faulty product, just by the sheer volume they produce. Now since a discussion has arisen, the ZKII will be called CONTROVERSIAL versus a FLOP. This will allow spin, making it seem that people were interested, whenthey really were indifferent. People, ordinary people outside of Nike Talk, are over the hype generated by Nike for its product. Nike is so played out in the manner, it's not even funny. Of course there'll always be superfans, depending the athlete they attempt to promote, butNike has rendered itself irrelevant by that overhyped, over_slick production style, just like with releasing 3 different shoes for a guy who seems to not beable to move one.
i understand what you are saying with that, and would agree to an extent...just like one who purchases a high performance sports car for a daily driver, it does not make it any less of a sports car. similarly, while the "position shoe" may not be totally exclusive or even a proper category, that does not really change the fact that certain shoes are designed with specific needs/purposes in mind. certainly a shaq is going to have different needs from his steps than ai, no question (yes pun) about that. we not me? you are not serious...while i do not think it is a bad ad campaign or message to promote, 1 it does not strike me as being different markedly from nike's flight/force squad(s) 2 it almost has to be that way, adidas probably does not want to compete on that level in hoops, a different approach is/was warranted honestly no one really cares all that much about taglines or slogans, product is what it is about at the end of the day. and when it comes to basketball, nike has done the better job communicating that to consumers. as absurd the notion that wearing a logo will instantly make one a better athlete is, that will always resonate with people. "it takse five" does not say anything about the product nor have anything to do with the product; it is philosophy. Points taken, then understood. I don't disagree about the making of different shoes for different people either. I am just saying, there is no suchthing as the proverbial "guard" shoe. You wear what is comfortable to you. In college, you wear what the team gives you. Nike created that term, when all that is needed to play ball is a good supportive shoe. They, Nike, made a cheaper product then called it "flight",versus the more substantial and solidly built "force" shoes. It's was hinted that if you were a 'high flyer' you may want to wear thelighter shoe. I remember Gerald Wilkins being a part of these ads very well, as guards and small forwards were featured in these ads. It was hype, something that has stuck around, unfortunately, as Doctor J, Magic Johnson, then Moses while he was in Houston, wore the same Converse shoe. GregOden and the point Guard Connely from Ohio State wore the same shoe last year, while people in all positions that are under Nike, are wearing Zoom BB's. So is there something wrong with Adidas doing it? I'll tell you what's wrong, Nike thinking that Kobe can push 3 shoes, and now this 'thing' called the III.
Quote: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Rock, can you touch on the "I don't trust my feet in anything else" stance? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, like many people would affirm, when you have played in a certain basketball shoe, and either broken your ankle or had a severe injury, you tend NOT totrust that shoe, for me when it occcured several times as a Youth and before High School, it became istrust for a Brand. So much so, that my High Schoolbasketball team chose to rock Reebok one year, and I refused and wore Nike's instead. When you don't trust a shoe or brand, it becomes or can become a mental thing. certainly this is where many of Jack J's opinions arise, which Idon't have a problem with. But I know as much as I dislike Kobe for messing up my Lakers, I don't have as much disdain as he does for the dude. Imade MANY of the same arguments last year about Kobe not being Marketed, and MANY people can remember me in MANY posts giving reasons as to why, and why hisproduct HAD to push envelopes to get people to wear it. I was deemed a Kobe hater... but one with Reason. I made my points about him and rolled out, no coninuous bashing, but hey.. its a message board and Jack Jhas his right, although I know he probably gets a tickle everytime he iritates someone. It means he won that battle. But anyway...to say there is no need or such thing as a Guard shoe, or position shoe, and its something Nike made up. You basically make Many of my pointsabout Nike for me. Nike is forward thinking. Of course many guys wore the same Converse back in the day. they didn' have any options. Basketball hasevolved....so has the need for tech behind the shoes that on the feet. Just because a Team wears a Team shoe or all of a same shoe, doesn't defeat any purpose of a position shoe. It simply means they are being paid orsponsored to wear a product and to live with it. Does that justify? Heck no. Its business. But Nike's forward thinking to point out a Center doesn't ALWAYS need to wear a shoe a Guard would or a Forward would, shows this is the progression ofmaking your individual game better. How can ANYONE deny that? Should we all still be in basic EVA based shoes and want to think of better tech for our feet? I know when I am old man, Dexters may be the shoe for me, but Nike could develop something to keep me walking straight and with great feet. Its not biasbecause I work here, its reality of me wanting to work for a company who has been ahead of the curve in MANY facets. Just to drop a nugget. Nike isn't ALWAYS the industry leader in ALL categories...but when they see what others have done to push ahead, they will take DNAor cues from that Product and push it forward and make it better at times than the original from another Brand. Hell, we all know other Brands bite from Nike,but I wouldn't be ignorant to think no one at Nike doesn't do the same. Anyhoo... myoriginal thought was to actually speak to Jack Js comment that I don't know what I am talking about. I can actually see you are absolute inall your thoughts and any outside thoughts, even one from someone who can go fact for non fact that works for the Swoosh is not accepted by you. Simplybecause of a relationship to the Swoosh. By the way.. as far as Prof. K goes, I hardly think his ratings were bias, and the fact that he does nothing in relation at Nike to what he did for Kicksologyjust shows he is talented. He was even respected for NOT giving every shoe some fabricated thumbs up. Billy White Dirk, from our convo's at the Gym whilewe are balling even surprises me. He gives some kicks I think are Horrid honest reviews and points out all the relative positives and negatives based on price points and such. Stuff, that whenyou intially look at it, you think.. yeah.. but its AND 1 or it's not all that. He gives his honest view and every shoe from the Swoosh def. doesn'tget a thumbs up from him. this I know first hand.
Lol at team jack johnson hates me. Jack, stop wasting your time posting paragraphs and paragraphs of hate to Kobe. Do something worthwhile like a job which youprobably don't have and a life which you definately don't have. This thread should be LOCKED already for crying out loud, it's already 6 pages.
actually dont lock it and let him stay here rather than going and trolling on all of the other threads.
By the way.. .I don't get how my thoughts or stance is Contradictory. Just because I don't trust my feet in other Brands, I am Bias? I was Bias thenfar before I was an employee. But at that time, it was called Brand Loyalty. I suppose that's sammantics as well.
Look Rock, do you. There is the truth, there there is the corporate version of the truth. I've always found it interesting when the Wagons begin circling. Look, you say that there is a need for shoes by position, correct? So how can the ZKII be the best of the lot? It's a "guard shoe", correct? It's not for all positions, and last I looked, full court basketball was played with FIVE.
Rock ignore him or if not he'll soon start spamming you by PM with his new user name still45 or some crap like that just like he did with me.
THIS GUY FEEDS OFF ATTENTION. HE IS AN ANGRY BIG MAN THAT ARGUES ABOUT SHOES AND CLAIMS THAT HE OWNS TWO BUSINESS' AND IS ON NIKETALK ALLDAY WAITING FOR ROCK DEEPS COMMENTS... MY BANK LAUGHS AT YOUR 2 BUSINESS'. I HATE WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT THEIR OCCUPATION WHEN IT HASNOTHING TO DO WITH NIKE KOBE 2.... .