Wide footers, this one’s for you…
Traction – I wasn’t loving the traction on the adidas J Wall 1, but the J Wall 2 fixed all that. Real quick. Pun? Maybe.
WaveBone traction is used and it’s REALLY soft. I personally wouldn’t choose to wear these as my primary outdoor shoe, but indoors they’re excellent. The midsole and outsole mimic the short-lived next gen PureMotion, where flexibility and ground cover are abundant. There won’t be a time where your outsole isn’t in contact with the floor. Which means you’re always going to have traction.
The only issue I came across was at the heel portion of the outsole. When dust accumulates in that section it gets caked up pretty good which resulted in a few slips here and there. No, I don’t use my heel when running around on-court… but, I do use it to slow down. And when I went to slow down…well, I wound up catching myself as my face made it’s way to the floor. Clean courts won’t pose the same issue; if you’re on a dusty court then try and use your forefoot to stop or slow down.
Cushion – Again, like last year’s J Wall 1, I wasn’t thrilled with their cushion. They boasted the use of full length adiPrene+ that felt like standard EVA. Not bad for quick games or regulated games that utilize a lot time outs, halftimes, and foul calls so your legs can get a break, but not so great for the average pickup player that plays for hours on end. Much like the traction between the J Wall 1 and J Wall 2, the cushion was much improved. Not quite enough to bump it’s rating up to Starting Five, but enough to make you realize that you’re wearing a pair of adidas hoop shoes that have a little bounce to them – mostly in the heel.
Their forefoot still offers plenty of court feel and range of motion – due to the PureMotion-like tooling – but you get some cushion underfoot as well.
The insole they come with is the same one they decided to use in their Crazy Light Boost 2015 – the really thin paper-like insole – so I’d swap that out for something thicker for a bit more comfort.
If you play pickup for hours at a time, these will be able to take care of you much better than last year’s model. It’s a perfect blend for Guards that want court feel without sacrificing too much cushion.
Materials – I feel like a broken record when it comes to most of adidas’ basketball products. Much like a lot of their models, materials will depend on the colorway. I haven’t had a chance to try out other versions of the J Wall 2 – and I won’t be so please don’t ask – but there are a couple different options available right now.
The first version is what I’ve been playing in, which is a synthetic. Not my favorite type of material, but it gets the job done and it’s pretty durable. It shows very little signs of wear for those of you that seem to be shocked that shoes crease when your foot flexes – it’s like you wish shoes were made of wood or something – so if you wear your shoes on and off-court then they’ll at least look decent. What I dislike about it is the way it flexes. It doesn’t really move naturally with your foot the way PrimeKnit does.
Their second option is a synthetic and mesh blend. Again, I haven’t tried this style out so I’m only assuming it will move better or more naturally with the foot than the synthetic my pair uses.
Having multiple material options isn’t new to the performance footwear game. Back in the day we had multiple options available. Canvas, leather, nubuck, and suede were all popular options from the 70’s through the 90’s and mid 2000’s. There would be Jordan’s that dropped with leather uppers while some colorways used nubuck. There was always something for everyone.
However, modern materials like textiles and woven/ knits can be far greater than traditional materials. We’ve seen PrimeKnit versions of the J Wall 2 leak, but if adidas would just commit to using the material across the board then I think it’d give people the best option first, instead of them having to wait around for something potentially better in the future.
Fit – The fit is a little awkward so you might want to try them on in-store if possible. Length wise they feel great, and they even start out a tad narrow width wise until you break them in. Once broken-in there is noticeable dead space above the toe – something adidas has been doing quite a bit as of late. I did swap the insole to help resolve the issue – the way I had with the Crazy Light Boost 2015 – but, unfortunately, it didn’t really help all that much.
Their heel fits great. Lockdown and mobility are all there. It’s just that darn forefoot could never seem to get tight enough. I feel like it was a mixture between the last used (foot mold/ shape) along with the lacing system. No matter what I tried I just couldn’t get the forefoot to fit the way I would have liked it to.
Wide footers, this might be a perfect option for you.
Support – Had the fit been better then their support would’ve excelled as well. Like I said earlier, the heel portion of the shoe is awesome, it’s just the forefoot that lacked a bit – unless you have a wide foot.
adidas uses what’s called a QuickFrame – the weird looking foam panel that wraps up the medial and lateral sides of the shoe – and that saves the shoe’s fit and support from being complete garbage.
Their forefoot containment might lack a bit, but without that QuickFrame in place then you’re foot would be sliding all around the footbed which wouldn’t be a good thing. It’s a lightweight ‘wall’ – that pun was unintentional…I swear – that contains the foot. Great feature for quick slashers that dash to the rim.
Overall – They have some good elements in place to make them a really solid and affordable option on-court. Traction was great. They offer a perfect balance between having a cushioned ride with court feel. Heel containment was solid, while the forefoot suffered due to poor materials and an awkward lacing system. Again, their QuickFrame saved them from being complete garbage so that was a good move.
If you end up grabbing a pair – especially on discount – then I think most will be pretty satisfied. Wide footers for sure will enjoy the fit, especially with how most shoes fit nowadays.
I have a wide foot and I bought a pair of Lillard’s because you said that it was wide in the forefoo and I loved how those fit. Do you think these wouldfit thesame considering that you said these started narrow?
looks very similar to crazyquick 3
Happy Halloween!
Well2,that is a good review,i hope they release in my country soon ,as i myself a wide footers
I was waiting this review for a long time! The upper looks very stiff and i am also wondering how much the synthetic and mesh combination (blue verion) will affect the total performing of the shoe. Nevertheless, very informative review as ALWAYS!
why doesn’t he have even some type of Boost? At least in the heel. smh
hmm, I’m starting to wonder if Wall likes harder cushioning.
If it’s not by his request, then it kind of seems like Reebok and Adidas are screwing him over. First he had the Zigteks with Reebok, and now he gets one of the Adidas’ lower tier cushioning techs (even though they now have better tech available).
It also doesn’t sound too good if Nightwing says the full length Adiprene+ doesn’t feel much better than standard EVA. I thought that it was supposed to be a step up from regular EVA?
I said that in regards to the Wall 1. Stared the Wall 2 felt much better and even had a slight bounce to it.
Yeah, sorry, I misread that when I skimmed through. I see you were talking about the Wall 1s.
Hey NW these are available on miadidas too for $135.00
The balling dead cw looks awesome imo and I would just hope that these fit me well since I myself am a wide footer. I like the way these sound, they seem built for my game. Just wanted to ask nw, what do these have for torsional/arch support. Shank? Sprintframe? Just wanted to know since I dont want to hurt my arches again
Nw, I’ve been a huge fan since the beggining but in my experience while fit does affect support in a shoe I think you grade a bit harsher than you should the way the fit affects support, also I’ve heard you say you dislike outriggers, why do you not like them
Fit is support. If the fit is sloppy then your support is at risk. I dont grade anything harsh, it’s just my opinion on the shoes performance based on my experiences. If you have a different experience then thats great.
I never stated I disliked outriggers.
Nice review Nightwing! This may be a little late but, does the adiprene here feel like the adiprene in the Lillard 1s? Thanks!
Thanks for the wide foot shout out????
Do these fit wider? I have a wide foot and John Wall is my favorite player.
I just got a pair of the custom made because of this review. The fit like he said needs to be broken in but overall pretty good for a wide foot. My feet hurt far less when I finish playing now than they used to.
So you guys wouldn’t recommend these for outdoor play? Also, are these drastically different from the J Wall 2.0 Primeknit?
These are rubbish weartesters. The fact that this review was positive makes me wonder whether you are paid off to give good reviews. These are the clunkiest most uncomfortable shoes I have ever worn.
I bought these shoes myself. The review wasn’t positive or negative. It speaks on my experience with the shoe. We do not take money from any brand for any reason. All other blogs feature paid branded content but we do not.