TOKYO (Japan) - If Rui Hachimura is around, one thing you can expect is history to be made. Japan's biggest hoops star has already written a number of chapters in the Akatsuki Five book of basketball, and chances are he will create more memories for the ages at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Hachimura has elevated Japan at every level along the way - leaving his marks at each stop. He helped Japan reach the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup for the first - and only - time and was an absolute star in 2014. En route to leading the tournament in scoring with a 22.6 average, he  dropped 25 points to the United States in Japan's 122-38  blowout loss in the Round of 16. In short, Hachimura showed he belonged on the court alongside USA stars such as Jayson Tatum,  Josh Jackson, and Harry Giles.

Three years later he helped Japan to a 10th-place showing at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 - the country's best-ever finish at that competition. The next summer Hachimura graduated to the senior national team and carried Japan to perhaps their biggest victory in history, scoring 24 points in beating Australia in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers. For the Boomers' this was their  first-ever loss since playing in FIBA Asia. With Hachimura's help, Japan then qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 after they hosted the global showcase in 2006 and didn't need to qualify.

Now Japan will be playing basketball in the Olympics for the first time since 1976 - thanks, of course, to being the host nation. But don't expect Hachimura to just be happy about participating. One note about the 23-year-old, the Japan Hachimura will not be the same player as the NBA Hachimura as the Washington forward is needed to play a bit more in the post for his country.

In the NBA, Hachimura is more of a wing who can also go into the blocks and take advantage of his strength and athleticism around the basket. Playing the power forward spot doesn't make him any less dangerous as he creates mismatches with the ability to take bigger defenders on the wing and drive by them to the rim or work around them to get open jumpers.

He is extremely valuable on pick-and-rolls - on both sides of the court as he can just about defend every position from one to five. But on offense, he can roll and finish above the rim or pick and pop among other ways to score or pass.

Hachimura will also make defenses pay for not defending him beyond the three-point line - both on the break or as he waits in the corner. If a wing guards him, Hachimura is strong enough to fend them off on his way to the basket and he also has an array of spin moves in the block or on the way to the basket.

As if all of those different ways to score were not enough, this series is called "You Can't Guard Him" and Hachimura has one more superpower that defenses cannot forget: namely that he can dunk with both hands. Even though he shoots and dribbles mainly with his right hand, he actually throws it down quite a bit with his left - both on drives to the lane when his right side is taken or on the break.

Thanks to an arsenal of offensive weapons that gives head coaches headaches, Hachimura is ready to lead Japan to more history.

FIBA