Basketbol - Noon at Ngayon (Part 2)

Having decided that I needed new basketball shoes. It was time to go shopping. But first, I decided to set a budget. I am a highly impulsive buyer and sometimes when I see something that I like. I don't necessarily look at the price anymore and end up paying an unnecessarily big amount. So in this case, I put it in my mind that I was only going to spend around 3K for a basketball shoe. Spending more than 3K for something that may just end up in our shoe cabinet gathering dust didn't sound like a good investment.

I first checked out the Nike store in greenhills and although there were some models that I saw which fit my budget. There were these 2 shoes that absolutely spoiled my taste. The Lebron 6 and the Kobe 4. Seeing these 2 models made the other shoes look downright shabby in comparison. Seriously, the Kobe 4s were supposed to be the lightest basketball show ever made weighing in at something like just over 11 ounces. While the Lebrons were simply beautiful. See pics

Dangnabbit. Sabi ko na nga ba eh. I didn't even want to look at the price tag of these babies. But I had to know. The Lebron 6 were 7K++ while the Kobe 4 was 6,995. Arrrrgh!! More than double the amount that I had in mind. With a loud sigh and with much regret, I placed both shoes back in their stands and grudgingly walked out of the store. I didn't even want to look at the other Nike models anymore. I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would be tempted to just say " Aaah, fuck it" and tell the saleslady to bring a size 10 of the Lebrons. Heheh.

Next stop was the Adidas signature store. And here I was surprised to see a new selling concept for basketball shoes. It seems that Adidas has decided not to release exclusive signature models for their basketball endorsers anymore. They would release the same signature shoe for everyone except that it came in different colors and slightly different designs. So before, they used to have the TMACs for Tracy Mcgrady and the GilZero for Gilbert Arenas. Now it was the Bounce Commander and your choice was Garnett, Howard and Duncan. The basic shoe was exactly the same for all 3, the only difference was the colorway. See pic.

I think the concept is similar to what Converse did before where Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wore the same shoes except they were different in color. In any case, the bounce commanders were still way off my budget retailing at 5,495 if I remember correctly.

Grrrr .... I was starting to think that there was a conspiracy going on and these marketing geniuses at Nike and Adidas really knew what they were doing. If I really wanted something nice and with somebody's name on it, then I had to pay up. I think the Adidas saleslady sensed my apprehension and belatedly told me that they had last year's signature models on sale and pointed them out to me.

As it turned out, last year's models were quite nice. They were called the TS Lightspeed and they were at 40% off. Original price was also 5,495 but now selling for only 3,200. Ahhh... I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well to make a long story short, I found a color that I liked and Cha-Ching. The lady swiped my mastercard and I am now the proud owner of brand spanking new TS Lightspeed basketball shoes TMAC version. Obviously, they weren't as nice as the Lebrons or Kobes, but what's important is I stuck to my budget and got some nice signature shoes although old model lang nga. Heheh. Ang daming drama just for a basketball shoe. But that's just for blog purposes, the actual shopping trip took only an hour at the most.

Next : How I did in the next basketball game with new shoes