Which player has the least flaws in their game?

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Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#1 » by giordunk » Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:27 am

For example, Shaq is an all-time center but sucks at shooting. Guys like Jokic, Nash, Curry have often been marked as defensive liabilities.

I want to say Kevin Durant? Versatile scorer + shooter + defender (played rim protector role in Golden State).

Paul George is another I think who doesn't have too many holes in his game, other than injury history.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#2 » by KobesScarf » Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:43 am

Michael Jordan seems like the obvious answer.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#3 » by Tomtolbert » Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:48 am

KG
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#4 » by Cavsfansince84 » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:11 am

Oscar, Jerry and MJ all seem like good choices to me.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#5 » by Heej » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:18 am

Tim Duncan or Magic Johnson
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#6 » by GeorgeMarcus » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:29 am

West is a good answer
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#7 » by Cavsfansince84 » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:45 am

Heej wrote:Tim Duncan or Magic Johnson


With Tim you could argue ft shooting and probably passing earlier on while with Magic you could argue outside shot up until like 85 or so.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#8 » by The Master » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:50 am

The most versatile player in terms of number of roles/positions offensively/defensively you can plug this player in at an elite level? Probably LeBron.
The most versatile player in terms of being good at everything/enough versatile defensively? Probably Kevin Durant*.

You can play KD on ball/off ball/as a roller/as a wing D/in rim protector-esque role defensively.

*It may be a bit of recency bias answer since I believe that KG would have been a decent 3pt shooter in today's basketball, and that would've made an unparalleled unicorn even within contemporary standards.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#9 » by Heej » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:51 am

Cavsfansince84 wrote:
Heej wrote:Tim Duncan or Magic Johnson


With Tim you could argue ft shooting and probably passing earlier on while with Magic you could argue outside shot up until like 85 or so.

Good point although Timmy improved his FT shooting. And isn't this about primes? Everyone is flawed if we're talking pre-prime lmao. Prime Magic imo is my choice as having the least exploitable flaws that you can specifically key in on and gameplan against. It's a big reason why his teams were so resilient in the playoffs and how he lead so many all time offenses
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#10 » by Cavsfansince84 » Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:00 am

Heej wrote:Good point although Timmy improved his FT shooting. And isn't this about primes? Everyone is flawed if we're talking pre-prime lmao. Prime Magic imo is my choice as having the least exploitable flaws that you can specifically key in on and gameplan against. It's a big reason why his teams were so resilient in the playoffs and how he lead so many all time offenses


Well it is somewhat subjective what constitutes a flaw. I was using the word to reflect something that a player does at a clear below league average level for their position. So with ft shooting, league avg tends to be in the 75-77% range and Tim was a career 69.6% ft shooter with a bunch of season in his prime below 70% and even below 60% one year so I'd say that it was actually a flaw for him. As it was for Russell, Wilt and Shaq as well. Possibly even Kareem and LeBron.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#11 » by SNPA » Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:48 am

Bird.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#12 » by dreamshake » Sun Apr 30, 2023 3:54 am

giordunk wrote:Paul George is another I think who doesn't have too many holes in his game, other than injury history.


I'm curious why Paul George, rather than LeBron or Kawhi? I think of them as being better than PG at pretty much everything. PG is a slightly better 3pt shooter than LBJ and a better FT shooter, but LeBron is so much better as an offensive creator that I would consider that as a bigger "flaw" in PG's game than shooting is in Bron's. And I can't really think of anything that PG is better at than Kawhi.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#13 » by henshao » Sun Apr 30, 2023 4:21 am

Kevin Garnett could and did play all positions 1-5 at least briefly and you could start him at any of them for stretches if necessary, if you want a guy who really has no glaring hole anywhere in his "madden ratings" it's KG. This is also true of Magic though his weak areas are more clear
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#14 » by TheGOATRises007 » Sun Apr 30, 2023 4:34 am

Jordan and West.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#15 » by Peregrine01 » Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:05 am

I think in today’s game it might actually be Steph.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#16 » by 70sFan » Sun Apr 30, 2023 5:58 am

Jerry West and Oscar Robertson
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#17 » by Owly » Sun Apr 30, 2023 7:31 am

Some considerations

1) What level of subdivisions of areas of the game are we considering.
2) At what level (e.g. percentile) are we considering something a "flaw".
3) Is it aspects of their game only or do you say something like "injury-prone", "headcase" or even "clutch" (esp without data) or resilience (these last two which could be indicative of flaws [or chance] but aren't themselves game skills).
4) Are we talking just number of flaws (to gamify ... this player has 11 attributes of 100 under a 75 rating, this one only has 5) or volume of flaws (distance matters, being a 30 matters a lot more than a 74)?
5) Are we constraining to in era or time machining? Ability to switch is more important and more noted now. Fwiw, my preference would be in era.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#18 » by Statlanta » Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:33 pm

I think a lot of people underestimate playmaking and offensive mobility(dribbling) as a weakness. Nobody talked about how Iguodala shut down areas of the floor for Durant in the 2016 WCF or how the 2022 Celtics couldn’t get to the areas of the floor they wanted in the Finals.
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#19 » by 1993Playoffs » Sun Apr 30, 2023 1:48 pm

Jordan immediately sticks out. Specially when talking about era
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Re: Which player has the least flaws in their game? 

Post#20 » by prolific passer » Sun Apr 30, 2023 2:23 pm

Offensively: Bird
Defensively: Russell, Hakeem
Overall: Jordan

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