Monday, March 3, 2008

Kickin Threads

You asked for it, and now you'll get it...That's right, another Twig's Top Ten!! Wooo-Hooo, feel the excitement!! This time around, I'll be posting and discussing my most favoritest basketball uniforms. While there are many unis I'm a big fan of, it seems like basketball teams-especially colleges-change their looks about every two years, so it's hard to play favorites for teams with classic looks. (For example, as much as you know I'd love to put UT at the top of any list, I'm really not feeling the new cloth they're rockin this year. Loved the previous edition, but not the current one) Because of this disappointing trend, I'm combining the NBA and college to come up with a top-ten or fifteen list. Read and be blessed...

San Antonio Spurs: Plain color scheme, mostly unchanged since the the days of the Iceman, and they're my favorite NBA team. Works for me.


UCLA Bruins: Pretty much the same since the hallowed John Wooden teams. Bonus points for the white "C" on the jerseys this year, celebrating UCLA's athletic programs 100 national championships.



Indiana Hoosiers: In my opinion, the Notre Dame of college basketball, at least uniform-wise. Very plain, no names on the back, recognizable to even casual fans. Plus they were the last to conform to the long-shorts era, rockin the booty-huggers as late as 2000. As far as I'm concerned, if Bobby K was still there, they'd still be showing some skin.


Boston Celtics: Possibly my favorite basketball uniform of all time. Green is a great color that, quite honestly, doesn't get utilized in sports uniforms enough. The uniforms look almost mythical by themselves. Negative points, however, for the horrible addition of the green jersey with black lettering the team introduced a few years back. As Charles Barkley would say, "Those uniforms are tuuurible."


UNC Tar Heels/Duke Blue Devils: I know it's a bit sacreligious to put these two together, but I feel about the same as far as their unis go: They were each better about ten years ago, but the changes they've made are subtle (more black for Duke, wide shoulders and less white for UNC) but overall, they've been pretty consistent, and remain a staple of college basketball.


Seattle SuperSonics: Since I left UT out, I now have an excuse to put KD in the blog. But I really do like the uniforms. Honest, I think they're classic. In related news, if you haven't read Bill Simmons' take on the atrocity that is the attempt to relocate the Sonics to Oklahoma City, go to espn.com and read up on it now. Or after you finish with this article, whatever.


Portland Trail Blazers: Another classic look from the Great Northwest.


Well faithful reader(s), I'd love to share more, but "American Gangster" is about to start, gotta run.
-Twig

8 comments:

Austin said...

Good list idea. This is much tougher than college football since so many of the basketball unis look so similar.

Some responses:
Spurs--I agree. I hate the team, but I love silver and black together and they don't trick up their unis too much.

UCLA--Another good choice. I'm sure you just typed it wrong, but the white C on their uniforms is for their 100th NCAA championship (across all sports obviously) that they won last year...the first school to reach the plateau.

IU--I love the look. I also love the candy-cane warm-up pants.

Celtics--solid.

Duke/UNC--I don't like the changes over the past 10 years or so.

Sonics--you're crazy. Those unis stink. Although, I do like them better than the one's they wore during the Finals run in '96.

Blazers--The reds look especially good.

Justin said...

If we are looking at the basketball uni "Holy Trinity", I'm going with the Hoosiers (the Candy-Cane warmup pants are vital), UNC (no Duke, booyah, Reeves), and the Celts. Honestly, the Celtics Larry Bird jersey is almost enough to cause any middle-aged white man to start babbling incoherently.

Speaking of which, I'm glad you're committed to keeping this blog afloat rather than your erstwhile co-editor, who simply quits when his posts are erased. Bad form, Jig.

lance said...

Well said, Austin. Huge mistake, i mean, it even says "100 championships" at midcourt of Pauley Pavilion. A complete drop of the ball on my part. Someone in the JAT research department is getting fired. Anyway, I corrected it in the post, so life can go on. Maybe someday I'll expand the list, or do a least favorite bball unis. Gosh knows there's plenty of bad ones to go around.

Luke Reeves said...

Twigger,
Ditto on UT's unis sucking this year. I don't like the skin tight jerseys with the poodle skirt shorts they're rockin'. The Buckeyes are making the same mistake. The tight jersey is the only thing that could make Kosta Koufos any uglier.

My additions to the list: Marquette, home and away. And Oregon's black get-up. New school wicked. And the Lakers' short-lived attempt to bring back the short shorts.

Justin said...

Reeves,

Your Duke, Laker, and Yankee fandom has scrambled your brain, sir. Those new Oregon unis are almost as hideous as the tripe they showcase in the fall on the gridiron.

Someone, and I don't know who, needs to stop the Phil Knight "I'm dressing up my alma mater's sports teams like a 5-year old girl dresses up her Barbies" experiment.

lance said...

I'm on board with the Lakers uniforms too, Luke. If I had time last night (read: if we weren't watching a movie) I would have included them.
As far as UT, and Ohio State, they-along with other schools such as Florida, USC, Kansas St, Syracuse, and West Virginia, among others-are wearing Nike's 'System of Dress' outfit. It's a bit ironic that their name includes the word 'dress' becuase with the tighter jersey and billowy shorts, that's exactly what they look like. Paul Lukas, of espn.com's 'UniWatch,' did a story on it at the beginning of the basketball season, and it's worth reading if you're interested in learning more about another bad idea from Nike.
As for Oregon, get a life Luke, those things belong in Cirqe de Solei, not a sports arena. Then again, maybe that's why you like them...

lance said...

Here's the link to Lukas' article that mentiones 'System of Dress,' for any who are interested:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/071108&sportCat=ncb

Mayor Girod said...

Say NO to the UT sports bras.


I am starting a petition----sign below.


___________
___________
___________
___________
___________