Under Armour Basketball - The New Prototype(s): Young Buck! (COUNTERKICKS.com)

[storm ryder]

A basic looking, but, undoubtedly functional basketball shoe from Under Armour.
Under Armour is looking to launch their basketball footwear in 2010. Stay tuned.

From the looks of it, this first basketball sneaker incorporates most of the technologies that Under Armour has been using in its recently launched runningline. The requisite one piece inner Foot Sleeve along with a Armour-Bond midsole augmented withArmour-Lastic at least in the heel and perhaps the forefoot for cushioning. The shoe also uses Under Armour's DCE: DirectionalCusioning Engineering with high-volume Cartilage extending 3/4 length on the lateral side of the shoe as opposed to UnderArmour's running shoes which feature the material mainly in the heel.

The upper looks like a simple, clean nubuck with some patent rands (PU coated perhaps?) around the forefoot and heel area's.
The perforations are very prevalent on the upper which emphasize breathability.

The future looks bright for Under Armour, Brandon Jennings (aka Young Money, aka Young Buck) and their up-coming footwear.

BB PROTOTYPE v.1

Lateral

Medial

Virtus Roma vs. Tau Ceramica (Mustafa Shakur?)

Virtus Roma vs. DKV Joventut (Ricky Rubio)

Virtus Roma vs. DKV Joventut (Bracey Wright)

Virtus Roma vs. DKV Joventut (Desmond Mallet)

(Posted by jw air, from SC)




(Posted by member: jw air)

(posted by BP, from kenlu.net)

(posted by KeonClark7, from Kicks Magazine)

(from NiceKicks.com)

BB PROTOTYPE v.2

(Posted by shoes604)

BB PROTOTYPE v.3

(Posted by Steez, from www.COUNTERKICKS.com )

Young Buck drops the double-nickel on GSW (Maryland PE):

 

[1and12]

Yup Saw these on DimeMag i think,

Anyway they have an And1 Quest type of look to them, mixed in with a little Payless Shaq Style ( Those grooves beneath the Heel )

I hope UA can further innovate or maybe change up their design a little, these are nice, but they're not even PROTEGE nice yet.

Materials look good.

UA is just starting out so I'll cut them some slack, they need an iconic design like how And1 captured our imaginations with the Tai Chi.

They've got a chance to be great, with Brandon Jennings, I think he has stand out talent, maybe in the long run he'll do what DWade did to Converse.

 

[shoes604]

Looks promising. After the kinks and growing pains are dealt with, the UA shoes could be a nice alternative and competitor to some of the major shoe brands.

 

[mister916]

I'm really liking these.

 

[zombiejesus12]

UA needs to stick to socks and compression shorts. Pretty much everything else they put out is much worse than the competition - be it the moisture wicking tshirt (that Nike does better), or the new batch of running shoes (that NB wipes the floor with), they're just throwing logos on inferior products.They're garbage.

And the dude who wrote the first post here sounds like he's writing ad copy for the UA company.

 

[mjvc]

Look extremely nice. Would for sure try a pair out.

 

[storm ryder]

Originally Posted by ZombieJesus12

UA needs to stick to socks and compression shorts. Pretty much everything else they put out is much worse than the competition - be it the moisture wicking t shirt (that Nike does better), or the new batch of running shoes (that NB wipes the floor with), they're just throwing logos on inferior products. They're garbage.

And the dude who wrote the first post here sounds like he's writing ad copy for the UA company.

Did Nike say, "lets not try to make basketball shoes, everyone is wearing superstars and converses anyway".

The fact is, Under Armour isn't afraid to enter new product categories. When companies are afraid to step outside of the box, there is nothing to drivecompetition and we all know that without competition there is no innovation. I respect Under Armour for not just throwing their logo's on some paylessrunners. They hired a footwear master in Chris Brewer and let him work the same magic he worked with Mizuno's performance running line when Mizunowasn't even on the map with their performance running.

And don't hate on my tech babble!

Just trying to inform people that aren't familiar.

 

[gregodensbedpan]

storm can you clarify what armour lastic, cartilage, foot sleeve, DCE, and armour bond are in laymans terms? i've read the shoeboxes and i still can'tcomprehend what the hell they are for the life of me. i feel like an idiot.. haha. thanks.

 

[jepeh21]

i like the black and yellow cw best

 

[zombiejesus12]

If the shoe is actually worth a damn, I'll take it all back. But the trainers UA put out are just worthless, sub-payless crap. And the running shoes aresimilarly weak, though a small step up.

You're right about competition making companies great - Adidas put leather on the shoes, Nike put air in the soles, etc - but UA hasn't done anythingworthwhile in the shoe game, and just 'cause they're hopping into it doesn't mean they'll spur innovation or set the bar high. If anything, asthe dude above says, these look like the And1 joints and will probably carve out the same niche - relatively cheap price points (sub 100), decent shoes withnothing special about them that cats wear outdoors as beaters. So I'm not impressed. Let UA break some major innovation first, they don't deserve thebenefit of the doubt right not because all their other shoes have been trash.

And the reason I said it sounded like you were writing ad copy wasn't because you were using UA's terms, it was because it's written likeyou're slobbering all over UA - "future looks bright" and that nonsense.

 

[gusyouout]

Originally Posted by 1and12

Yup Saw these on DimeMag i think,

[color= rgb(255, 0, 0)]Anyway they have an And1 Quest type of look to them[/color], mixed in with a little Payless Shaq Style ( Those grooves beneath the Heel )

I hope UA can further innovate or maybe change up their design a little, these are nice, but they're not even PROTEGE nice yet.

Materials look good.

UA is just starting out so I'll cut them some slack, they need an iconic design like how And1 captured our imaginations with the Tai Chi.

They've got a chance to be great, with Brandon Jennings, I think he has stand out talent, maybe in the long run he'll do what DWade did to Converse.

Exact same thought I had when I first saw them. I do like it though, so if the price isn't bad I definitely wouldn't mind getting a pair.

 

[iamsoysauce3]

ZombieJesus is right.

UA = trash

I'm sick of seeing UA everywhere. Stuff is garbage. So called "heat gear" is a far second to Nike Dri Fit. I've been given UA shirts as gifts(would never spend my own money on it) and every one has made my skin itch.....I'm not exaggerating. Made it feel as if I just got a hair cut withoutwearing the apron.

As I watch the NFL Combine and see UA everywhere, they interviewed the CEO of UA. Talking about the new prototype combine shoe they have. The first thing Ithought of was "Nike/Sparq came out with that prototype like 3 years ago."

Keep copying what Nike's already done.

Nike rules..........

 

[lobotomybeats]

their logo definitely suffers from a LBJ23-on-the-Soldiers-esque placement problem.

 

[bundy9]

definitely has an and1 typa look...and doesnt look bad as da 1st shoe really....nice to see these up close as we had seen those european test-wear pics b4...myverdict is...similar to what has happened to and1, the starbury's and will happen to al harringtons protege's...an eventual fizzling out...

but a decent look and entry into the bball market

 

[ijustice]

look like And 1's. If the tech is anything like their training and running shoes, these will be middle of the road. All in all not bad for a company'sfirst venture into a new product category.

 

[ijustice]

look like And 1's. If the tech is anything like their training and running shoes, these will be middle of the road. All in all not bad for a company'sfirst venture into a new product category.

 

[zombiejesus12]

Originally Posted by IamSoySauce3

ZombieJesus is right.

UA = trash

I'm sick of seeing UA everywhere. Stuff is garbage. So called "heat gear" is a far second to Nike Dri Fit. I've been given UA shirts as gifts (would never spend my own money on it) and every one has made my skin itch.....I'm not exaggerating. Made it feel as if I just got a hair cut without wearing the apron.

As I watch the NFL Combine and see UA everywhere, they interviewed the CEO of UA. Talking about the new prototype combine shoe they have. The first thing I thought of was "Nike/Sparq came out with that prototype like 3 years ago."

Keep copying what Nike's already done.

Nike rules..........

You sort of missed the point. Nike does some things well (the waffle racer is how they got into the game, the Air Jordan was how they got here,etc.), they do some other things very very badly. For instance

• Nike baseball batting gloves are awful. Just useless. Franklin does a much better job
• Nike optics are pretty trashy. Especially when compared with Oakley, then they look pathetic
• Nike baseball gloves suck, they're at the bottom of the pile. Actually Nike baseball in general is bad except for the cleats, because the bats are not good either
• Nike watches should be discontinued entirely
• Nike socks are a few big steps behind the leaders. Poor quality, lesser material, etc. They're not even close to UA in that game.

And there's other stuff too. I'm all for companies branching out and trying new things, but they need to get into the market for reasons like"we can do this better" instead of "people will buy this because our logo is on it!". If UA can break some new tech or make thing better,I'm all for their new ventures. But let's hope their bball shoes are better than the cleats or runners or trainers they've put out so far.

 

[aj27526]

Under Armour, for whatever reason, sells for their logo and their logo only now. The same people in my store buying UA product are those buying Turbos andRemixes just because they're "Nike shox"

 

[crazy ebw]

Originally Posted by ZombieJesus12

UA needs to stick to socks and compression shorts. Pretty much everything else they put out is much worse than the competition - be it the moisture wicking t shirt (that Nike does better), or the new batch of running shoes (that NB wipes the floor with), they're just throwing logos on inferior products. They're garbage.

And the dude who wrote the first post here sounds like he's writing ad copy for the UA company.

Not even going to address the NB statement beyond this.

And all of this is coming from a dude who LOVES Reebok product.

You don't know what you're talking about, so you should just stop. I DO agree about the Nike t-shirt being better, but that's it.

 

[daddyrabbit251]

I just dont like the big UA logo on the side of kicks

 

[starbury03]

These are hot. There, I said it.

 

[erweeezy]

man those pictures are like a "where are they now?"...i was wondering where mustafa shakur went

 

[ouchrislitt]

There was a story in the Washington Post about Lance Stephenson's visit to Maryland, and how it included a side-trip to the UA headquarters. The quote fromLance Stephenson Sr. about the kicks was, well, less than complimentary.

"To be honest with you, we really don't care for the sneaker. The sneaker sucks."
SOURCE.

It's too bad, because I think they look sharp. Maybe they're just being judgmental.

 

[acidicality]

i actually like their heatgear shirts for working out.

 

[emmanuelabor]

looks like And1's with a UA logo.

I really hope they can go beyond that cause I really feel like the basketball market is begging for some real competition