Nah, I do to.
I could live with the zig-zags if the fonts weren't so bad.
Nah, I do to.
To an extent this is determined by the players and what they like. I think the pendulum on shorts is swinging back the other way, but I don't think we'll ever see the stupid short shorts of the 70's and 80's ever again.Also, is it just me, or does Illinois always seem to have comically baggy shorts? It's like ILL basketball is wearing Jncos out there.
Judging by the pictures posted by the Illini Bball Twitter account today, we're still way behind as it pertains to up to date basketball shoes from Nike. Most of the team wearing options from 1-2 years ago.
A lot of the guys play in their own shoes during practice. Has nothing to do with the rebrand
Put me down as another that can't stand the zig-zags. Makes the uniform far too busy. A line down the side would look at lot more clean imo.
Also, is it just me, or does Illinois always seem to have comically baggy shorts? It's like ILL basketball is wearing Jncos out there.
I pay an inordinate amount of attention to this stuff.
Wasn't it rumored that the zig zag was a veiled reference to the edge of the Chief headdress and that was as close as they could get without being obvious? Maybe that was just mentioned in passing by someone, but I thought that's why it was done. If it were just a zig zag to be a zig zag... eh.
Outside of Kipper and TJL, everybody pictured was wearing team shoes from last season (which were ~a year out of season even then). There's a pattern of Nike getting us the latest models behind other teams in the B1G, particularly schools that have alumni as signature Nike athletes (Sparty, OSU).
I pay an inordinate amount of attention to this stuff.
Seeing this thread pulled to the forefront again reminds me how slow Illini hoops gets in the Summer. They could play in tutus or Speedos and it wouldn't matter to me. Just win, baby. Well, maybe Mike Thorne in a Speedo would be a little too much, but, without trying to be insulting, derogatory, political incorrect, whatever, I'm curious why folks care so much about uniforms and shoes worn by the Beloved. Of course I'm a geezer, a fashion ignoramus, and a member of the Kristofferson Cleanest-Dirty-Shirt club, but it does pretty much baffle me. Is my complete indifference just a Baby Boomer thing?
They could play in tutus or Speedos and it wouldn't matter to me.
Oh, yes it would.
I'm sure you're right and it has something to do with the Orange color way as that's way down on the team spectrum, but I noticed most of the players not wearing the team shoe. TA wore Kobe's for example and Black wore KD's.
The only one I can remember wearing an old team shoe last year was Malcolm. My guess is it was personal preference. Last year's Hypershift (the low top basketball shoe) had a lot a lot of white on it in the team orange color way.
FiveStar said:High school kids do too. They notice that kind of thing.
I'm almost sure I heard this. Now, if it was intentional is another question, but I feel like when I read/listened to the unveiling of them, they mentioned the pattern as an "honor to our past" or something similar.
Personally, I'd rather have clean, simple jersey. One reason the Flyin Illini throwbacks are perfect. I'd also be ok with a chief logo on them somewhere
Outside of Kipper and TJL, everybody pictured was wearing team shoes from last season (which were ~a year out of season even then). There's a pattern of Nike getting us the latest models behind other teams in the B1G, particularly schools that have alumni as signature Nike athletes (Sparty, OSU).
I pay an inordinate amount of attention to this stuff.
It's gotta be personal preference, especially for practice. I'm sorry. I'm having a very hard time believing a shoe and apparel company can't provide brand new shoes to a team they are paying multiple millions of dollars a year to sponsor. The uniform rebrands understandably take a few years, but basketball shoes are mass produced. Even if they aren't exactly ILLINI branded, they have thousands of orange, blue or white shoes. If that's the case, the almighty Josh Whitman better be on the phone with Adidas and Under Armour.
This stuff is pretty easy to track if you know what to look for. It *is* more nuanced than I've taken the time to breakdown, but it's a flat out fact Illinois is not getting Nike's premiere sneaker models (ex. the KD9 I mentioned earlier) as early/often as the top tier teams, and in some cases the next tier under that. They'll likely be outfitted with the budget team models to begin the season, but to tie it back to recruiting, Nike's not doing us any favors as it relates to the shoe game.
Outside of Kipper and TJL, everybody pictured was wearing team shoes from last season (which were ~a year out of season even then). There's a pattern of Nike getting us the latest models behind other teams in the B1G, particularly schools that have alumni as signature Nike athletes (Sparty, OSU).
I pay an inordinate amount of attention to this stuff.