First. Team. All. Defense.
Despite being nearly dismissed from his high school's open tryouts following the full-court layup drill, as soon as the team hopefuls had to get into a defensive stance, he was able to strut his stuff. Averaging slightly under a point per game in his high school career with the lowest usage rate in Maryland 4A history, he forced his way into the starting lineup solely by virtue of defensive prowess. With the length, strength and lateral quickness to guard 1 through 5 and a pre-natural gift for running a system, Hackett was the key to a switch-happy, ultra-aggressive defense.
In college, Hackett was forced to take a step-back from basketball as he began to pursue his football career, but that didn't stop him from getting a few games in with his future NSFL league-mates Sammy Walters, Andreas Waiters, Bailey Cook and, of course, Rakim Uchiha. The first three were natural match-ups for Hackett; neither Waiters nor Cook have the handle to shift him and none of the troika had the quickness or speed to take advantage of one of Hackett's few relative weaknesses. Despite being unable to dribble in an empty gym, Hackett is currently undefeated in 1v1 games against Cook. And Waiters? In the biggest game of the NSFL preseason tourney, Hackett held him to 0-2 shooting with no other positive stats. Waiters couldn't even manage a rebound against an engaged Hackett.
But Uchiha is a different story. Despite being essentially attached at the hip off the court, the two are polar opposites on the court. Rakim has never seen a shot he didn't like and has literally never passed the ball on the fast break. Their matchups are a frenetic battle of styles: post-ups and spot-ups against hanging mid-range pull-ups. An eternal struggle, Uchiha and Hackett will have ample opportunities to determine the best in their duo as they suit up for the Liberty this season
Despite being nearly dismissed from his high school's open tryouts following the full-court layup drill, as soon as the team hopefuls had to get into a defensive stance, he was able to strut his stuff. Averaging slightly under a point per game in his high school career with the lowest usage rate in Maryland 4A history, he forced his way into the starting lineup solely by virtue of defensive prowess. With the length, strength and lateral quickness to guard 1 through 5 and a pre-natural gift for running a system, Hackett was the key to a switch-happy, ultra-aggressive defense.
In college, Hackett was forced to take a step-back from basketball as he began to pursue his football career, but that didn't stop him from getting a few games in with his future NSFL league-mates Sammy Walters, Andreas Waiters, Bailey Cook and, of course, Rakim Uchiha. The first three were natural match-ups for Hackett; neither Waiters nor Cook have the handle to shift him and none of the troika had the quickness or speed to take advantage of one of Hackett's few relative weaknesses. Despite being unable to dribble in an empty gym, Hackett is currently undefeated in 1v1 games against Cook. And Waiters? In the biggest game of the NSFL preseason tourney, Hackett held him to 0-2 shooting with no other positive stats. Waiters couldn't even manage a rebound against an engaged Hackett.
But Uchiha is a different story. Despite being essentially attached at the hip off the court, the two are polar opposites on the court. Rakim has never seen a shot he didn't like and has literally never passed the ball on the fast break. Their matchups are a frenetic battle of styles: post-ups and spot-ups against hanging mid-range pull-ups. An eternal struggle, Uchiha and Hackett will have ample opportunities to determine the best in their duo as they suit up for the Liberty this season
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