Continuing the trend of second half season .5 shoes, adidas brings us the Rose 3.5 for the playoff push. But with Rose the athlete sitting on the sidelines for the last year, will the 3.5 stay on the bench as well?

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For the last three seasons, as most of you know, adidas has released a primary shoe for the fall and a .5 shoe for the spring for Derrick Rose. And I have loved playing in all of them. I won’t attempt to rank them because they are all great for the time. But there has always been an incremental difference in the shoe — the GeoFit collar going away from the 1.0 to the 1.5, the straps and splatter traction giving way on the 2.0 to the 2.5 and, well, really nothing changing from the 3.0 to the 3.5. At least outwardly. The 3.5 was improved in areas not readily noticeable.

One thing the 3.0 had going for it immediately was the quality of materials and construction. In my opinion, it was one of the most beautifully crafted shoes of the last 3-4 years, maybe longer. The use of premium nubucks and synthetics on the Home and Away, as well as the variety used on the Chicago Fire and Fresh Prince colorways, was exciting and unique for each pair. The 3.5 continues in that mold. While we haven’t seen a synthetic suede like the Home 3.0 (my favorite), the shoe still uses top-grade synthetics to provide a premium feel. The construction is spot-on, no blemishes (on my pair), and the look is still sleek and fast. Let’s run…