Last season, Adidas created the Ball 365 to cater to outdoor ballers. I was really excited last year about this shoe coming out but it was only available overseas and thanks to Adidas’s wanky sizing, I really didn’t want to spend $150 plus on a shoe that could be way too big or way too small. I guess I wasn’t the only one since no “reviewers” reviewed them.
Thankfully the new season is here and everything is on sale so I felt I could justify the risk for almost half the price. In hindsight I wish I didn’t.
Pros: traction, cushioning, decent fit, stability, containment, durable outsole
Cons: thick layers and use of Climawarm will suck for outdoor use during summer months, super thin tongue and dumb design leads to discomfort, some heel slip, rides a little high off the ground, pricey for what you get
Sizing: take a wild guess.. typical Adidas or is it atypical Adidas?
Best for: outdoor players who have to have Adidas
Buying Advice: buy something else
Weight:
Adidas likes to keep them over one pound I guess. Similar weight to the Rose line or CLB16.
Traction
Now this application of Continental rubber makes sense. During my test of Continental versus Regular, I felt Continental would be more durable especially outdoors so it makes sense to put these on the Ball 365. Works great outdoors and indoors as well. Not really much wiping required even on dusty floors indoors. This is the best part about the Ball365
Cushioning
Bounce wins the award for consistency. It has that distinct feel across a lot of different lines of shoes. These feel a little firmer than the Lillard 2 but still feel like Bounce.
I think this set up is great for outdoors even though it sits a little higher up than I’d like.
Sizing
Good thing I’m a good guesser..Before you read this, which way do you think sizing went ? True to size go up half a size go down half a size other? Tough question to answer isn’t it? Fix this issue Adidas.
Well I went half a size up just based on pictures and I was right. There is a lot of padding in the Ball 365 and it runs shorter and narrower than Adidas hoop shoes in general. I had a finger width of space from my biggest toe to the end of the toe box which is my preference and what podiatrists actually recommend.
Fit
In all honesty I wanted the mids but I couldn’t find a pair in my size for a good price. However these lows do a decent job in regard to fit. I had serious heel slip to start but after some workouts and runs the heel fit got better but never got truly locked in. The laces don’t sit high enough or far enough back for me and I really didn’t feel like poking more holes in shoes. Plus the design as a whole didn’t help either (more below). Yes, my feet are very fickle when it comes to lows that’s why I like mids because I usually have zero issues like this with them.
The lace “eyelets” are similar looking to the Rose 8 but the string is actually one continuous piece. If you break it you’re SOL
I could have gone down half a size and it would probably would have improved the fit but then the shoe would have been too tight.
No issues with movement side to side since these run pretty narrow. Overall, I find the fit to be slightly below average due to the heel fit. Miss would probably do a a better job on this department.
Materials
The Ball 365 is mostly just mesh similar to the Fusemesh of the Lillard 3. Nothing great but it feels right as an outdoor material. There is some protection around the toebox for toe dragging which is a plus but if you don’t drag on this spot get ready for some fraying or holes. More coverage across the forefoot would be ideal.
There is also a thick underlay of cloth which I believe is Climawarm but it doesn’t impede flexibility. It’s there to keep your feet warm during winter months while keeping them ultra moist during summer. Yuck
Climawarm -when you really want a bacteria farm growing in your shoes.
I get it’s called the Ball 365 as in 365 days a year but during the hot swamp as* summer this is not what you want at all. And during the winter months, your feet don’t need Climawarm because your feet naturally get hot. Trust me I’ve played hours upon hours of tennis during the winter months and keeping my feel warm was the very last thing I was worried about. Maybe next time throwing in a headband or ski mask would be better than Climawarm as a material in a shoe with no ventilation. One of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever seen unless I’m going skiing or hiking in the freezing cold.
Design
So yea ..about those TPS reports
Maybe I just need a explanation from engineers but this space makes no sense and give me lace pressure irritation and pain. I mean really why? Ventilation ? You have a super thin tongue covering the space so it can’t be for that. 
This little thin tongue let’s me feel all the lace pressure I could ever want. And why is the tongue on top of the shoe ? It just looks like n extra piece of fabric.
That space doesn’t help with the fit either so it really makes little sense. Basically my foot foot acts as wedge some every time I run my ankle can push further and further into the “V” cutout making the fit worse with each step. If you’re going to keep my feet warm, a traditional tongue or bootie set up would have worked much better while keeping my feet nice and toasty.
Support and Stability
Support comes from the heel counter and fit so I had no issues with support. Those nubs do nothing except give the appearance of durability and to prepare you for battle with the Whitewalkers. See the Ball365 would be great when #winterishere #gameofthronesdork
Actually the real reason the nubs exist is to add accessories to the shoe but I thought we were done with shrouds and lace covers back in 2001.
Stabilty is good as well with an outsole similar to the Lillard 2. No tippiness in the heel either. Nice job overall Adidas!
Containment
Good containment since my foot sits well below the raised midsole. Sorry this is so brief, just want to finish writing this review.
Conclusion
I really liked that Adidas made an outdoor shoe basketball shoe since not everyone plays indoors. The Ball 365 should really be called Ball 245 because I would not advise wearing these during summer months due to the thick underlays and Climawarm.
IF I ignore the heat retention and weird painful cut out that led to Crazylace pressure and heel slip, the Ball245 is an okay shoe and feels sturdy for the outdoors. But at a retail price of $120 (I think) not including shipping costs, you’d be better served buying older models with Continental rubber for half the price like Crazylight Boost 2016 or Lillard 2. I usually don’t feel sorry about buying a shoe at $80 but this isn’t even aesthetically pleasing to me so pretty much just a big L. I could have bought two Lillard 3’s at the outlet for less than I paid for these and had a better fit, ventilation, and looks. Oh well live and learn and move onto the next one. I hope this review saves someone some money!
schwollo.com 
Theres now the ball365 2 here in the ph. It now has climacool fabric lolol we dont need climawarm here hahah but the tongue still looks pretty much the same and thin
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Climacool I can get behind but if the designs the same just pass altogether. I’d rather play in flip flops gulang style
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I thought this was a shoe from the company 361. but hey its a solid shoe nonetheless!
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Last I saw was an exhibition game in China to promote this shoe. Guess since they got winter there on some province, no?
Overall better sell this to the Russians hahaha #jk #dontshootme
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Haha I’m sure it’s winter somewhere lol
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Hey schwollo first time commenting here although ive been following your site for a couple of years now. If you dont mind i have a couple of questions. 1. Have you tried the D rose 7 low? Really want to buy but they are only available on ebay here in Australia. 2. Have you seen the D rose englewood boost and are they worth copping? Last question is what’s your all time top 5 shoes to play in? Thanks!
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I did not buy the Rose 7 low but I might once prices come down some more. Haven’t tried the englewood Boost either. All time as in even non wearable shoes? If so it’s very similar to the top 10 I have pinned (need to update) AJ xiv OG Lebron soldier vi curry 2 Kobe iv Kobe i Lebron ii Rose 7 . I could play in any of those and be perfectly happy not buying another shoe. HD17 flyknit, AJ xxxi low, are in there somewhere but I have a longer history and good memories with the former. Oh huarache 2k5 might squeak in too.
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*ahem!*pushes glasses (RecSpecs?) up bridge of nose* Didn’t the Curry 2.5 supplant the 2 on your list? Haha! Just kidding. Or at least half teasing/half earnestly asking.
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lol sorry I count those as the same shoe. Some days I want a little more freedom in the ankle so i wear the 2 and some days I want them pulled back some more so I wear the 2.5. Let’s see if the 4 can do supplant them whenever I get them lol. Good catch though !
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Rec specs lol had to wear some of those after I broke my nose in college and recently when i reached in the post caught a noggin and had an egg coming out of my eye. They work at least !
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Ah, that makes sense. Nice to have a couple options sitting on top of that beloved 2/2.5 traction. That would be nice if the 4 improved on ’em.
Haha! Glad RecSpecs have been there for you when you needed ’em. I’ve never worn ’em but I have considered getting some. Seems like they’d be good accessories if you wanted to run any White-Men-Can’t-Jump-type hustle—hard to look like too slick of a ballplayer with those on.
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Ha it’s cool to look like a geek on court Kurt Rambis style didn’t you know ?
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Haha! I always associate RecSpecs with Horace Grant. Meant to give him a nod in my previous comment and forgot.
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Haha Horace of course as well. Hakeem wore them for a little bit too
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You forgot the Nike Zoom BB, i remember was one of your favorites…mine as well
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Good call! Had to narrow it down to five or six lol
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Hey, unrelated to this post, but I was looking for some advice.
I recently tried on the Clutch Fit Drive 3 and I loved the narrow fit plus the amount of padding in the shoe and on the tongue – this allows me to really crank down on the laces and not feel too much pressure. Could you recommend a shoe with a fit like this, but better traction/cushion? I tried on the Curry 2.5 and it felt too wide in the forefoot for me 😦
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the 2.5 was too wide? You must have some skinny feet! Rose 8 sounds like it would fit the bill off the top of my head very good all around. Rose 7 as well although some ppl can’t get the lockdown all the way back. I’d say dame 4 as well but traction isn’t better
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Haha, yeah, it’s really hard finding shoes for my feet because even narrow shoes like KD9s are a little too wide and they have no padding so I cant pull the laces tight enough.
If I were to choose between the Dame 4 (half size down) and the AJ low xxxi (tts), which do you think fits narrower with more padding for the laces? Thanks for the help!
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Dame 4 for you. Xxxi had some extra space even for my wide feet. Half size down should be perfect for you
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Just a decent try from Adidas.
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Try is generous
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Ouch. I started reading through, got to the list of “Pros” attributes and wondered if I had misread the preceding “hindsight” sentence… lotsa upsides that normally make for a great sneaker—too bad they had to go and ruin it with some seemingly gimmicky features.
I always like the idea of tough, highly durable outdoor-oriented sneaks, so now that they seem to have generally gone the way of the dodo roughly twenty years ago, I get especially hype when I learn a new model is releasing, which makes it all the more disappointing when the new joints are duds. Anyway, thanks, Schwollo, for checking ’em out and sharing your findings.
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Ha no problem trial and error really all you can do sometimes.
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Word. Well, we appreciate it.
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I hardly play outdoors anymore, but if they could just remake the first two Streetballs with Boost, that would be great.
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Wouldn’t surprise me if they did it with Bounce
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Adidas has been making very good budget shoes lately so I guess we can give them a pass on this one. On a completely unrelated note, are you liking the Jordan 32s more or the Dame 4s?
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I like Dame 4 fluidity more but the AJ 32 traction much much more.
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Everyone’s been saying the break in time for the 32s is excruciatingly long, so hopefully yours breaks in to be more fluid as well
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It has def gotten better . Good shoe all the way around no problems at all.
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Hey Schwollo, why don’t you review the Anta KT3 since they are on fireee and performed pretty damn good according to Nightwing? And the price was not bad too.
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Nah not my cup of tea looks wise, looks like a less streamlined Lebron soldier viii. $120 isn’t cheap relatively speaking either. I’m sure it’s decent though
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Hi Schwollo sorry to hijack this thread. What’s the news on LeBron Soldier 11?
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Just way behind so I returned them since I never got around to wearing them
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ok 😦
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Have you gotten the LeBron 15 yet?
Also, what is your current go to shoe for 2017?
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Yep I got em. So far I find them very comfortable, they sit high, cushioning is great, traction isn’t good on dusty floors and is only average on clean but I’m hoping break in helps some. 2017 goto is Hyperdunk 2017 fk . Rose 8 and Explosive Bounce are also very nice. Xxx2 Review will be done soon. Great from a tech sheet perspective and very good overall but not my favorite of the year. Still a little clunky even after break in.
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Yeah. I have been hearing that the Lebron 15 traction isn’t great and the cushion is next level awesome. I need both traction and impact protection, so I probably gonna pass on the 15’s, especially if the traction doesn’t improve for you.
I might have to go with the D Rose 8.
Thanks for your replay.
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Hey Schwollo! I’ve been thinking about getting a pair of the nike hyperdunk 2011s as my old ones are hella beat up. But the conversion rate and import charges deter me from buying on Ebay. What shoe resembles HD 11s the most in terms of the feel of the cushioning?
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Hd 16 would fit the bill. Sits lower but still feels zoomy
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thanks for your reply! 🙂
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I went to the outlets and saw a pair of HD 16 lows. When I pressed my thumb against the midsole I noticed that that the foam they used is much firmer than what what used in the HD 11. Would this affect the zoom feel?
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That foam will break in so it doesn’t make too much of a difference . It does feel firmer but only by a little.
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If you’re at a Nike outlet you have 30 days to return them even if you wear them FYI
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Thanks for letting me know
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Got them at outlet for 44$, I considered it a “steal” given the reviews on it
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i bought tthe ball 365 II low for a bargain. $25 thats a steal for me here in PH. i love a grip of the outsole. bounce, and its a low.
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That’s a a steal anywhere
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Another A+++ review. And thanks for “keepsin” it ad-free altho I wouldn’t be mad if you had a small ad here and there.. Something to generate some small revenue for your time.
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Hhaha once you install and ad plugin I don’t think you can control the number of ads lol
Thanks for always reading khmerog!
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