Pistons ban sneaker

[nyk]

Pistons trainer banishes Nike Hyperize sneakers

By J.E. Skeets (YAHOO.COM)

Arnie Kander, the Detroit Pistons' longtime strength and conditioning coach, says he's never seen as many ankle, knee and groin injuries as he has this season. And he's not kidding. From opening night to mid-December, three different Pistons guards ? Richard Hamilton(notes), Ben Gordon(notes) and Will Bynum(notes) ? all missed time thanks to buggered ankles. What's that sayin'? Two's a coincidence, three's a trend.

So, like any good NBA trainer who moonlights as a private investigator, Kander donned his deerstalker hat and overcoat, smoked a pipe, and quickly figured out that it was a specific brand of sneakers ? *COUGH* Nike Hyperizes *COUGH* ? that were making the Pistons' ankles go lame.

Case closed; shoes banned.

"I'm not going to name the brand of shoe it was [Ed. note: Woops!], but it has been banned from our locker room and the guys aren't allowed to wear it," Kander said. "These shoes had taken most of the support out of the sides and it was a lighter shoe. Most basketball shoes weigh between 1.4 and 1.7 pounds."

"These shoes were weighing 0.8 pounds, which was way too light as far as side support. Since we've banned the shoe, knock on wood, we haven't had any ankle sprains. Hopefully, the good Lord willing, we won't have any more and we can finish the season healthy and see what these guys can really do.

Kander, who once referred to current basketball shoes as glorified "moccasins," takes his players ankles very serious. In fact, the Pistons actually fine members of the team who don't tape their ankles because it has shown to be so effective in preventing injury. Kander's hardcore ? his ankles have mustaches.

Note: I can't for the life of me find a photo of Hamilton wearing the aforementioned Hyperize kicks. Sneakerhead, and Kix in the City CEO, Rich MaZe Lopez says Rip, being a Jordan Brand athlete, rocks only Air Jordan retros or Team Jordans. Can we blame Michael, too, Kander?

[TFoA]

Velvet Hoop is not pleased with this news.

That being said, I guess this is an open-shut case. When they wore the shoes, ankle injuries occurred. No ankle injuries ever since. Good for the Pistons trying to keep the injury bug away.

[elsephen]

The Hyperdunk/Hyperize are TOO supportive in the ankle for me... so I think there's more to this.

Hell, every basketball team in America- scratch that- the WORLD wears them now. I'd assume there's a reason.

[chakfu]

Velvet Hoop is not pleased with this news.

That being said, I guess this is an open-shut case. When they wore the shoes, ankle injuries occurred. No ankle injuries ever since. Good for the Pistons trying to keep the injury bug away.

Small sample size and anecdotal evidence are an open and shut case? Still, can't blame them for acting on what they see.

[gcj]

This is absurd. Rip has worn Jordan Brand sneakers for years. Someone isn't doing their homework.

Using this same logic, wearing the Adidas brand Detroit Pistons jersey makes your team suck.

[crashcarson15]

Have you ever worn these things? My basketball team with all of 18 kids has had 4 or 5 ankle injuries from these shoes (presumably the same ones, or similar ones) including a broken ankle, on the first day of practice nonetheless. So yeah, there's no support in them.

[powersurge]

Hate to sound like an old fart, but sneaker design (specifically Basketball Sneakers) has taken a turn for the worst IMO. They are downright terrible in terms of support, how they are crafted, and the materials that they are using. Yet, the price still remains higher then ever. Total bull:censored:. I'd rather run around barefoot. Nike is total crap anyway. They were crap in the 90's and they're crap now. I wear Addidas brand shoes, which haven't been exempt from many of the same criticisms that Nike gets but they are still a step up in my opinion.

[Discogod]

When I was in high school, our basketball coach did a similar thing after our first 2 years and 8+ ankle injuries - he banned high-tops completely. It worked to a point - for our last season, we went from 4 broken ankles the previous year to just 1 (me, and I still had to play half a season on it).

[TheOldRoman]

If shoes like this are a problem, how the hell did guys used to play wearing Converse All-Stars?

[wmusto]

I was under the impression that Nike's "flywire" (the "strings" in the shoes) were to assist in lockdown, and thus make shoes (like these) BETTER on the ankle etc?

[Mingjai]

I remember BYU football had an inordinate amount of Lisfranc and similar one season, and they ended figuring them to be a result of a certain model of Nike cleats. Apparently all the injuries were from players who were wearing that model of cleat.

[crashcarson15]

I was under the impression that Nike's "flywire" (the "strings" in the shoes) were to assist in lockdown, and thus make shoes (like these) BETTER on the ankle etc?

They don't. The flywire doesn't do it's job then.

[elsephen]

Actually they do. Get your players to use the laces.

A PG like myself can't even wear the Hyper-line (laced correctly)due to the ankles being too stiff. The laces go from the upper foot all the way down to the heel almost, giving you about as much stability as a shoe can in the ankle.

I have to unlace mine and leave the tops unlaced due to needing to be shiftier.

It's almost impossible to roll your ankle in the hyper's.

Glass ankles and bad footwork = not the shoe.

[crashcarson15]

Actually they do. Get your players to use the laces.

A PG like myself can't even wear the Hyper-line due to the ankles being too stiff. The laces go from the upper foot all the way down to the heel almost, giving you about as much stability as a shoe can in the ankle.

I have to unlace mine and leave the tops unlaced due to needing to be shiftier.

Glass ankles and bad footwork = not the shoe.

When you've got guys doing that and wearing ankle braces and still spraining ankles, that ain't good.

[Hardcore Legend]

When you've got guys wearing ankle braces, they aren't doing enough to strengthen the ankles anyways. They are using the ankle brace as a 'crutch' and they will continually have ankle problems. Get them on flexbands every day.

[pointguard4519]

My college team got Hyperizes this year. We didn't seem to have any more ankle issues than normal. If you lace them all the way up (as has been previously covered) the support is fine. I don't know about the flywire being to lockdown though. I believe it's supposed to provide similar to support as traditional shoes and reduce weight at the same time.

All that said, I feel like the original Hyperdunk was a better shoe than the Hyperize. We had tons of issues with shoes tearing out, scuffing after 1-2 practices, logos chipping (not that that's all bad), etc. Probably sent back 8-10 pairs between the whole team because of those kinds of issues.