All for one, one for all: Part IV - Brooklyn Nets

Brooklyn. The place where basketball truly grew. It's so easy to find a shoe for the Brooklyn Nets, as their colors are black and white. Black. And white. I could do just about ANYTHING with that. Well, except for like the Jordan XII "Bin23". Those are ugly. Try doing anything with those.

The Nets, for being so recently updated in terms of stadium, logo, colors, owners, image, etc. have an EXTREMELY old team. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams. Brook Lopez is their only real youth.

But for being old, they hold their own. With visionary new owners, it's going to be fun watching what image the Nets choose to don in the coming years.

But as far as shoes are concerned, I've made up my mind.

My choice is the Nike Air Maestro, just like the Fab Five wore back in the day. All the way from 1992-93, these bad boys still look clean today. And with this crisp black and white colorway, the Nets would be all set for the Casino Royale- er, I mean, Barclays Center.

Honorable mention to the Nike Zoom Kobe VIII "What the Kobe", because can you imagine the look of those with the black and white uniforms? My, oh my. It's a shame I couldn't make myself choose them.

Photo credit: http://sneakertalk.yuku.com/topic/29233/t/Fab-Five-Shoes-they-wore.html?page=2

All for one, one for all: Part III - Boston Celtics

Ahhh, the Boston Celtics. One of the most storied teams in the NBA's fine lineage. With greats such as Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Bob Cousy coming to mind, not many teams carry the weight the Celtics do.

Boston has always stuck to a strict green and white color scheme, donning black or gold accents on some alternate uniforms in the more recent years.

The Celtics have had their struggles since winning a title in 2008; losing Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen sure didn't help.

But Rajon Rondo has stayed through it all, saving the franchise from certain collapse. And though the team represents a very young, building feel, I went with a classic for this team.

I had to! With such history, it was only right to pick the Converse Star Tech "Green". Such a storied team, such a storied shoe. It's great to just reminisce sometimes, and this clean colorway represents a lot concerning the way the Celtics carry themselves as a franchise.

Honorable mention to all Lebron "Dunkman" and "SVSM" colorways. There were quite a few others with a predominately neon green color that I considered, but couldn't bring myself to choose.

Photo credit: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr6D25I1Zgq8525uyQUvZQtQhTQolk2OgSO6NUEmU_WGmQrrSSRUomhpUDnJ1Lez68Jddg8CrE8b5ApVHpJsn6-29nDQ48rLEervrzyZjSdiZUERBv8YYsmGz6LgZm_PwfdXBSMTXdcZ3G/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-02-22+at+5.21.39+PM.png

All for one, one for all: Part II - Atlanta Hawks

Well, here it is! The first team of the series - the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks have it rough this year, recently losing essentially all of their talent in Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and Jamal Crawford. Well, at least they still have Elton Brand. They might have to use a wheelchair to get him from game to game, but he's there.

All jokes aside, the Hawks have a reasonable amount of young talent in Paul Millsap, Al Horford, and Jeff Teague. And they have Kyle Korver, who manages to set some sort of strange record every now and then.

Anyways, lets get to the shoes. Fun part, right?

Though at first their colors of navy and cardinal seem a little outlandish, but then I thought about Team USA. So easy, a caveman could do it.

My pick is the Nike Air More Uptempo "Olympic", which Scottie Pippen wore in the 1996 games. Nothing like this shoe in the world.

The Jordan VII "Olympic" and VI "Olympic" get the honorable mentions, the reason they didn't take the cake is that this list will have plenty of Jordans; I like mixing it up, and that the gold accents of the VII don't fit perfectly to the Hawks colors.

Good thing there's four more teams with the same colors. I have a lot of other picks.

Photo credit: http://giantlife.com/579460/olympics-sneakers/

All for one, one for all: Part I - Introduction

Wow, it sure has been a while. I dropped the ball on writing, that's for sure. Not much to say other than that I've been busy with being a student. You know how it is. School, sleep, repeat. Factor in playing basketball and you have all the makings for no free time.

But in the interest of motivating myself, I decided to start a new series. Titled "All for one, one for all", this will be a series in which I select a shoe that was released to the public for buying that has a colorway pertaining to whatever team it's turn is.

For instance, if the team selected was the Bulls, I could pick the original Air Jordan I in the "Bred" colorway, and then I would throw in a picture for reference. I will be going in alphabetical order (by city, not mascot).

This series will be easy at some points (Bulls) and difficult at others (Bucks). But I look forward to the challenge of researching shoes and coming up with a bit of character behind each decision. Here goes nothing!

Photo credit: http://5.kicksonfire.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/air-jordan-1-i-original-og-1985-white-black-red-1.jpg

Best dunker in the NBA?

Tracy McGrady. Vince Carter. Jason Richardson. Michael Jordan. Shawn Kemp. Penny Hardaway. These guys helped define late 90's and early 21st century basketball with their high-flying, gravity-defying, popularity-buying, make-you-crying dunks. 360 jams, tomahawk throw downs, these were things that you could see in an everyday game of basketball. Nowadays, the art has transformed.

Less and less do we see swingmen flying through the air, absolutely posterizing all in their way. Although dunking is still prevalent, it's more popular in the form of big forwards or centers grazing rims. Now, that being said, guys like Blake Griffin, Javale McGee, and Josh Smith definitely have my respect, it's just a little sad to see change.

Really, what guards or small forwards are there that can really throw it down? There's Andre Iguodala, JR Smith, and maybe Demar Derozan. But beyond that, you don't see the big names jam. LeBron puts on a show every once in a while, but you can tell it doesn't interest him. "I'd rather pull back from that open lane and shoot a three!" Okay, I made that quote up, but still. Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony do their thing every once in a while, and Kobe Bryant has had his moments, but what happened to people getting nicknames like "Air Canada"? It's a crying shame.

Well, change is inevitable, I guess. Although I blame the players for not being able to throw it down as well anymore, a big part of it is actually the defense. Players on the other team don't exactly "clear the runway". They would rather be charged with a flagrant foul than allow the other team to dunk on them. Too prideful, if you ask me.

Dunking is the true beauty of basketball. We must protect it, preserve it, and most of all, respect it.

So in terms of great dunkers, is there anybody I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Picture Credit: http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1205/shawn.kemp.rare.photos/images/kemp-dunk-fix2.jpg

Pelicans are cool... Right?

So, if you haven't already heard, the New Orleans Hornets officially changed their team mascot to the Pelicans at the end of the 2012-13 season. Keep in mind that this is a team that moved from Charlotte just over a decade ago; change isn't too unfamiliar. The navy, crimson, and gold color scheme presents a cleaner, younger, and fresher image than the teal and yellow.

Now don't get me wrong, the Hornets have had some sweet jerseys over the years (do I hear Mardi Gras uni's, anybody?). But the teal and yellow seems to have been pushed to it's limits in terms of the direction professional basketball is going. Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, and Austin Rivers have been joined by Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans in the Big Easy, the foundation for a very formidable young team. In fact, they only have two players with more than 5 years of NBA experience.

Believe it or not, I actually like the looks of a Pelican playoff run this season. With Davis' presence on defense, Holiday's ability to move the ball, Rivers' and Gordon's offensive skill, and Evans' slashing talents, they are a piece or two away from being a power. Now, obviously no team is instantly a success. They will need a veteran to anchor the team, and they will need some time to develop their playing style, but I see promise.

Now onto the jersey. For such a youthful, exciting team, the uniforms are quite dull. I don't know about you, but donning one of these wouldn't make me feel like throwing it down in the paint or dropping 35 on a division opponent. The jerseys are disproportionate, trite, and just a bad decision. This feels like the Cavaliers and Nets combined their two jerseys and added a fleur de lis.

It's clear that the Pelicans have a lot to work with. We can only hope that they learn to not only show it, but back it up as well.

What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments!

Picture Credit: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/orleans-pelicans-unveil-positively-plain-uniforms-photos-200927039.html

Wait... Basketball

A lot can go down between thursday and saturday... So imagine what can happen between February and July! After my return post went up (you can find it directly below this one), I realized that I didn't say one word about basketball. On this BASKETBALL blog.

WHAT!?

So, like I said, it's been a while. Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. The Heat won another championship, after the Spurs choked it up. LeBron James was handed another MVP award (Most Valuable Player to the league's budget, not necessarily to a team), free agency made quite a splash, Kobe may be lost forever, some trades were made, the Celtics look worse than Shawn Marion's jumpshot, the Nets are the new Spurs, the Lakers are staring a losing record in the eye, the Rockets and Thunder look ready to battle for the West for the next 4 years, Derek Fisher's term as representative for the players' union expired (these are all equally important events), apparently Detroit has a basketball team, and Kevin Hart is ready to win a record third consecutive MVP in the Celebrity All-Star game.

Wow.

That right there is the NBA. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner Dwight Howard, former MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and 15-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, Ten-time All-Star and former Finals MVP Paul Pierce, former Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, All-Star Andre Iguodala, Slam-Dunk Contest Champion Josh Smith, and former Defensive Player of the Year Metta World Peace are all notable players that found new homes this off-season. This was a HUGE year for free agency. Not only because of the names above, but also because of the fact that the moves teams made this summer set up for next year's free agents, including Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James.

Also, did anybody know that Chauncey Billups and Elton Brand were still in the league? I thought they were living in senior homes.

Needless to say, the events of the 2012-2013 NBA season are more than enough to set a MAJOR stage for this upcoming year, and we are all lucky to have a front row seat.

Picture Credit: http://cdn3.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/8214455/20130215_jla_ad1_179.0_standard_352.0.jpg