Since Kobe Bryant’s exodus from adidas, the sportswear giant has not featured a signature line of sneakers for a particular NBA star. In fact, they’ve flown relatively low on the radar for years while their top competitor, Nike has been dominating the basketball kicks landscape. However, with their own impressive roster of some of the game’s legit superstars such as Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Derrick Rose, adidas is looking to put a substantial damper on Nike’s campaign to command and conquer in 2010 and jockey for their own position on the hardwood.
Just because adidas has not highlighted a single NBA baller and blessed them with their own signature series does not mean that their R&D unit has not been grinding through long hours creating magic. It seems as though all they needed was to take a step back and go back to their roots to find what they were looking for. In our review of the adidas KB8, we highlighted Feet You Wear technology, which was a revolutionary innovation that enhanced the fit of the shoe around the wearer’s foot. That is exactly where adidas looked to in “creating” their TS Supernatural Creator high performance basketball sneaker.
Head designer Robbie Fuller even dates the decision to revisit Feet You Wear to 2008. Although the exact technology was not cloned onto the Creator, Fuller and his team did their due diligence in R&D and conjured Pure Motion, the updated and advanced version of Feet You Wear. While its predecessor model aimed to provide a great fit and move with the natural movements of the wearer’s foot to minimize slippage within the shoe, Pure Motion does all that and also provides a much better level of stability and cushioning.
Pure Motion is most noticeable through the five pods on the outsole. While the pods are a major component of the midsole cushioning and support system, they actually function independently of each other. Fuller explains, “Pure Motion allows the shoe to adapt to the exact motions of the foot, providing you with superior fit, stability, and cushioning all in the lightest TS products ever”.
Personally, while performance is always the most important part of a high performance basketball shoe, I do also consider exterior appearance as a rather significant factor – but again, that’s just me. I’m honestly just on the fence with the upper because I’m not really a fan of the shrouded lacing system and quite honestly, adidas basketball uppers have just never really done it for me other than The KOBE. I think it’s just something about the stripes logo that makes it difficult to really blend it in tastefully into a basketball shoe’s external design. With that being said, to reiterate, the specs and what a sneaker has to offer performance-wise is the most important factor to be weighed in considering whether or not to cop a pair of kicks.
The rest of the TS Creator has other innovative highlights such as the “fatpad” heel support cushion, a thoroughly padded collar for ankle support, and an overall low-to-ground build to accommodate dynamic movements on the court. Also, the shoe has the usual features of adidas basketball kicks such as the Torsion arch system for midfoot support and adiPRENE in the forefoot for maximum cushioning and response. The Creator was additionally given an external heel reinforcement piece to lock the foot down even more while making quick movements such as sharp cuts by optimizing shoe-to-leg alignment. Lastly, the upper has an ankle strap for a tightly secured fit.
Adidas appears to have really hit a home run with their NBA athletes and as Fuller says, the first wave of response he received was “immediate satisfaction”. For the most part, user feedback has been strong and positive for the Creator as well, mainly highlighting the high quality traction, fit, comfort, and support. As I previously said, adidas is looking to make big waves in the basketball universe with their TS series as there is also the Creator’s counterpart, the Commander, which we will cover soon so check back!
Check out the commercial below as adidas’ impressive group of NBA superstars show you what you can expect to see every time they take the floor!
[Original Release: 2010; Weight: 13.6 oz.; Price: $100; Players: Derrick Rose / Chauncey Billups / Jordan Farmar / Jerryd Bayless / Eric Gordon / Leandro Barbosa / Devin Harris]
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source: solecollector.com/counterkicks.com