Kentucky - Indiana All Star Game

Well the 2008-09 season is officially over and for the 15th time the Lakers are champions. Congratulations are in order for the fantastic job that the Lakers and Magic did in getting to the finals. While I was for the Magic, I am still just thrilled that Cleveland didn't win. However, the NBA wasn't the only basketball going on over the last few days. Besides the WNBA, the Kentucky and Indiana All Stars took the floor for their annual two game series.

The boys from the Hoosier state won both games but by all accounts it was a great weekend of All Star basketball. Below are three pictures from the game. As you will notice the Kentucky All Stars wore the Converse Wade Slash, which is why they're getting some love from The Converse Blog.

Below from AP Photo/Michael Conroy, Kentucky's Seth Faulkner and Corey Wildford are going for a loose ball.

Above from Kentucky.com, Future Kentucky Wildcat Jon Hood is seen taking a shot during his 20 point performance in game 1.  Below from Kentucky.com is Kentucky All Star Ridge Wilson is going after

That's it for today, thanks for checking out the blog and voting in the poll.  Check us out at Twitter too!

'S Friday Flashback: Converse Starion Japan Re-issue

If you watched the game last night then you know that Orlando let the game and probably the series run down their collective legs last night.  I am not sure I've ever been as frustrated about a basketball game before.  Make your free throws and you win the game.  Foul Derrick Fisher and you probably win the game.  It's one thing to just get beat like it game 1, but in games 2 & 4 you had opportunities to win.  Oh well enough about that, we'll just have to wait until Sunday to see what happens.

For those of you with an eye for all things Converse, you might have seen a version of this shoe recently.  The original Converse Starion was a basketball shoe from the 80's, but today's flashback is of the Japan Re-issue from a few years ago. 

One of the great things about these shoes is how the design lends itself to some outstanding colorways.  For example the shoe I have today is in a Orange/Navy colorway.  I also really enjoy the ankle strap which personally I can never get enough of.  Converse Japan has continued to release different colorways of this shoe over the years so you might find some other colorways floating around in the world wide interweb.  

As soon as I publish this post I am going to put up the poll so check back in a few minutes and vote!

Jameer Nelson is back, and so is Converse in the NBA Finals!

After taking a two year absence, Converse is now back in the NBA Finals thanks to Jameer Nelson returning to the Magic's line up.  Jameer has been out since before the All Star game with a shoulder injury and it wasn't likely that he would return.  Not much went good for Orlando last night, but if Jameer is healthy enough to play I think in the long run it will help their chances in this series.  What killed them last night was their awful shooting percentage.  Either way, it's still nice to see Converse back in the finals.  Here are some pics of Jameer surrounding the Finals.

Above Jameer is wearing some awesome Converse shorts and slides that I can't find anywhere or I would buy them. Below Jameer is at practice wearing the Converse Assist. 

Above is Jameer from the game last night also wearing the Converse Assist.  I am holding out hope that he'll wear the Weapon EVO's at some point in the Finals, but time will tell.

I've got a few tidbits to talk about here.  Led Zeppelin edged out The Beatles to win the latest poll on who should get a Converse collection next.  No one else was really even close, but there was a 3 way tie between Queen, The Rolling Stones, and U2.  I was really off on the Eagles, but someone had to come in last place.  Also I didn't use KISS because they've already had a Vans collection. 

I updated Weapon Wednesday two week ago, but I realize some of you may not have seen it.  So I want to give a big thanks to Fernando Berdones for hooking me up with the picture of those OG Yellow/White Weapons.

I got an email from a blog reading looking for info on a pair of Converse that he had back in the day. Here is what he had to say, "I bought them somewhere around 1997-1998, they were basketball model of course, mid or high (more likely mid), React, half black (in front) and the other half lf the shoe was white, and with the glowing yellow React window on the side."

I've searched my pictures and I can't seem to find anything that matches this, so I am calling on all of you Converse heads for help.  This man needs knowledge and pictures about this long lost shoe.  Thank you in advance the information, email it to me at ConverseNCAA@hotmail.com.

'S Weapon Wednesday: The Weapon is up at ConverseOne

Finally it is here, the Converse Weapon is up and waiting for you at ConverseOne. I say finally because it was first previewed way back when the Pro Leather was put up at ConverseOne. By the way you can't find the Pro Leather's on ConverseOne anymore, I hope they aren't gone for good because they were great. But that's another rant for another day. Today is all about the Weapon, which currently is only available in the Hi version. I've got a pair coming my way, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some of the designs I came up with. 

The available colors are limited, especially apart from the ankle, Y bar, and laces.  What the Weapon lacks in color options it makes up for that in the personal ID section.  For the Weapons you get a whopping 15 characters for you to personalize.  Here are some that I designed with the finals in mind and some of my favorite colleges.  

Now you can Choose your own Weapon!  Thanks for checking out the blog!  Remember to vote we're in the last day of the current poll!

The Converse Blog: Jameer Nelson Media Day!

I love media day(s) in the NBA. New players in new Jerseys and you get to see whose switched shoe companies. Only a few pictures have released so far, but already things aren't looking so good. It looks like Kevin Love is with Adidas and I haven't seen any new players wearing Converse. Granted things can change, especially since the talk around this years group of rookies is that there just isn't as much money going around for endorsement contracts. To me this seemed like a perfect opportunity for a company like Converse to sign up a bunch of rookies for cheap and take their chances that some of them will turn into stars. Oh well, so far the only Converse I've seen has been on Converse players we already knew about. Like Jameer Nelson pictured below. He's rocking the new Converse assist, a team shoe from Converse. The assist will provide the most options for Player Exclusive combinations that you'll see on the courts of the NBA. I can't tell for sure if these are PE's for Jameer or just the general release of the assist, but I would expect some nice combos for all of the NBA guys.

Well that's it for today, I hope to have more pics from NBA media day(s) up soon. Don't forget to vote in the poll on your way out and thanks for stopping in to check out the Converse Blog.