On Tuesday I came close to associating the new uniforms Nike has introduced for Arizona, Florida, Ohio State, and Syracuse as practically signalling the Earth’s impending doom. After seeing the actual products in action Wednesday when Syracuse played UConn, I’m willing to eat a little crow, but I’ll still hold back final judgment until it all shakes out.
What scared me about the new uniforms was the almost spandex appearance they had on the model shots that Nike had released previously. The jerseys seemed to be uber-tight and there was the long-sleve spandex type undershirts.
In action yesterday, the jerseys were no where near as tight as I feared they would be and mercifully it appeared players had decided to forego the spandex sleeve look. All in all, it definitely appeared to be a trimmer cut, but not altogether that different looking from regular jerseys. The shorts didn’t appear any baggier than normal (and on the record, I’m a supporter of the baggy shorts look).
While the cut and fit of the jerseys was ok, the actual design was a little more suspect. It had a “cheap” look to it, particularly the lettering. At times on closeups it almost looked like it all been ironed on.
It will be interesting to see what looks emerge over the next few days with the other squads set to don the new look and whether or not some unfortunate soul goes with the long sleeve spandex.
The Good
One of my greatest regrets not being able to write full-time (ok…at all) the past few months has been missing out chronicling the performance of Texas freshman Kevin Durant, hands-down the most talented pound-for-pound player in the college game this season.
He’s been heralded to no end at this point but it’s still worth giving him some more props. His game is a Frankenstein-like assemblage of basketball ability in that when you start trying to compare him to guys who’ve played before you end up naming 5 or 6 players just to encompass his skill sets. Enjoy it while it lasts….he’s NBA bound.
The UGLY
I’m actually speechless in horror right now after seeing what the always funny Deadspin dug up about some new Nike uniform concepts being tested March 6th. This is for real and I’m hoping it will crash and burn as badly as I think it will. Honestly, I don’t need to say anything more as the below will suffice completely.
What’s shocking is the incongruity between the foodsaver-tight jerseys and the dress-like shorts. I’m no traditionalist but c’mon….
With the ink still fresh on the deal that sent Allen Iverson to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two first-rounders, reaction has been, not surprisingly whenever a player as polarizing as Iverson is involved, split down the middle.
You’ve got Charley Rosen of FoxSports.com casting doubt on how the deal will really help the Nuggets (Sidenote: Rosen is cynical to the core and you’ll disagree with half the things he says (I know I do), but he’s also one of the most veteran and knowledgable basketball minds writing today and always a worthy read.)
John Hollinger at ESPN, one of the foremost stats crunchers in the game, likes the move in his ESPN Insider column (membership req’d) due to the Nuggets’ system and the probable motivation of Iverson to prove the haters wrong, leading Hollinger to slot the Nuggets in as title contenders.
That’s just a mere sampling of what’s out there and the opinions vary widely. My own two cents? Mind you I could be labeled as biased (I am a Georgetown alum and was front row and center on the stat crew during Iverson’s two seasons with the program) but I will analyze this objectively as I can.
When looking at the deal, the first realization one has to make is that there is no way the Sixers could have gotten equal value back in terms of current players. Teams knew Philly was desperate to deal and weren’t going to give up anything of his caliber back. Given those obstacles, I think the 76ers still ended up with a decent package. Andre Miller is a solid point guard who Maurice Cheeks will love. My real fear with him is his offense comes and goes and Philly will need him to score more than he’d been doing in Denver. Joe Smith is serviceable, but his inclusion was more for his expiring contract than anything he has left in the tank (It’s funny to think that Smith was the #1 pick in the draft just a season earlier than when Iverson was taken #1 in 1996)
The real clincher in this deal were the two 2007 first round picks Denver gave up which consisted of their own and Dallas’. Although neither will likely be a lottery pick, they give the Sixers a chance to add a young core in what should be a deep draft.
Iverson adds another weapon for the Nuggets and they’ll easily be the funnest team to watch in the league. The key will be the transtion that occurs once Carmelo Anthony is off of his 15-game suspension and he and Iverson will be on the court at the same time. I don’t foresee issues, as many observers have accurately stated that Carmelo can do a lot without the ball in his hands. Iverson’s ability to disrupt defenses will mean lots of open looks and clearer lanes for ‘Melo and I think both players have a respect for each other.
The Nuggets will win and I think the move was one they had to make, but at the same time I don’t think this puts them into the elite status in the West. Dallas, San Antonio, and Phoenix are still better teams and even within the Nuggets’ own division I think the Jazz may be a more complete team overall. Interestingly, they may not be able to improve much above the current sixth seed they have, but they will be an imminently greater threat in the playoffs themselves, with the sort of intangibles that can steal some rounds.
The real world came up and slapped me in the face. I’m neck deep in studies for the bar exam in February, and I got a little too sucked into that every night and have neglected this good, sweet blog.
Balance is everything though…and I don’t want to let this fade into the sunset.
So I’m back….posts won’t be everyday, but I’ll try to keep up as steady a stream as possible rather than the total radio silence of the last month.
One thing was thankfully missing last night when Hampton University helped tipoff the college basketball season last night, losing to Maryland 102-75. Absent was one of the most horrendous logos ever thrust upon a team at any level, the notorious Hampton Pirates “Slick Rick” man:
Why do I call it the “Slick Rick” man…glad you asked:
Actually I’ll probably end up missing that crazy pirate…as the new logo doesn’t exactly inspire much of anything…blah:
I’d be remiss if I didn’t officially acknowledge and mourn the passing of Red Auerbach, one of the true legends of the game. Through his control of the Celtics, Red played a huge part in defining the modern game of basketball and his legacy will on.
John Feinstein, who enjoyed a close relationship with Red, says all that needs to be said in an excellent article (registration required, but well worth it) in the Washington Post.
Heaven just gained a helluva of a coach…..
Very strange news coming from down under where former NBA All-Star sharpshooter Mark Price was fired as head coach of the South Dragons, who play in Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL), after losing the first five games of the season.
Price claims in an article that he was essentially thrown under the bus by one of his players, Australian hoops “legend” Shane Heal (who played sparingly for 49 games with the T-Wolves and Spurs stateside), who in turn was named the team’s new player-coach after Price’s sacking. In one of the most egregious examples of PR coverup, the Dragons website states that Price “resigned for family reasons”.
The Dragons are a relocated team playing in Melbourne and had tried making a big PR splash by bringing in a semi-high profile former NBA player as their head coach, but in all honesty, Price probably wasn’t ready to become a head guy with his prior coaching experience limited to a few years as an assistant with Georgia Tech and at the high school level. And while the NBL is not the NBA, it is a fiercely competitive league on its own terms and it would undoubtedly involve some type of learning curve.
Nevertheless, this sucks for Price who had just moved his family over to Australia and was starting to settle in. I guess no one ever enters the coaching profession if job security is their primary goal.
In a related story, Todd Fuller was released as a player by the Dragons on the same day Price was fired, making this the approximately 259th team to waive Fuller in his 10 year professional career.
The always awesome Uniwatch Blog has some great stuff on how the new four-panel NBA ball might or might not affect NBA logo and uniform designs.
They also have some stuff on these new Washington Wizards’ third/alt jerseys…. I hate that shoulder piping as it screams WNBA to me. I’m going to hold out judgment as to whether the new adidas era of the NBA will pan out.
The new color scheme actually looks like it should be the uniform for either Vanderbilt or Army, down to even the stars.
