Back to back MVP Tim Duncan is one cool cat. With two NBA championship under his belt, Duncan has effortlessly glided through his NBA career without much of a peep. It helps to have a model citizen like David Robinson as his mentor early on in his career. Now that TD is his own man with his own team, he's reshaping the league with his own blueprint to success. Duncan rarely looses his cool and adidas has designed a matching shoe by the name of D-Cool to go along with his smooth playing style.

      If you care to remember, Duncan's earlier signature line with Nike saw the likes of Foamposite, Foamposite Max, Flightposite I as well as the Duncan I and II. His cool demeanor fits perfectly with the Foamposite material developed by Nike. Now that he's with team adidas, the formula to success remains the same. The rear half of the adidas D-Cool is a Flightposite with ventilation featuring adidas ClimaCool technology. The front half utilizes a clean, smooth, comfortable leather that is more familiar to your average pair of basketball shoes. This keeps the weight to a minimal and allows adidas to keep the price tag down as well. The idea was to create the best of both worlds - rich and creamy around the toe area and protective, futuristic, and breathable in the back. To be able to do this and allow the masses to be able to afford it is the main selling point. Nike's Foamposite One debuted back in 1997 at nearly $200. Subsequent releases in the Foam/Flightposite lineups never really saw a price tag lower than $150. Once the novelty wore off, the technology hype cooled and consumers stopped buying these expensive sneakers.

      What adidas is bring to the table is an appeal to the masses. Who's to say Foamposite-based shoes have to be expensive? The Duncan signature shoe will debut in the NBA Playoffs and then become a Team Bank shoe starting in late summer. Even the average consumers will be able to afford the team colorway D-Cools at a price below $100. This marks one of adidas basketball's best valued shoe for the year. The D-Cools are essentially a $125-150 shoe for around $90 in the US. If you are looking for value, that is a no brainer. Just how well does the D-Cool hold up to your pair of Flightposite's? That remains to be seen. We'll be back shortly to give you a short-term testing.