The Real "Real Thing"
Thursday, December 29, 2005
By Jared Field
greatlakeshoops.com
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The
title sponsor of this year's Holiday Classic basketball tournament in Flint was
Coca-Cola
Bottling Company, and for good reason. The showcase game of the tournament
pitted two of the best teams in mid-Michigan, both undefeated. When Garret
Konuszewski and the Flushing Raiders stepped on the floor with Southwestern
Academy this past Tuesday night they were an unknown commodity; when they left
the floor, they were established contenders. With their big win over the
highly favored Knights, Flushing is no longer lurking in the shadows. In
other words, don't be surprised when they beat you.
Who is this Garret kid anyway? That was pretty much the thoroughgoing sentiment in the gym that night. With all due respect to the king of all soda pops, Garret Konuszewski is the real "Real Thing."
During a successful junior season as Flushing's starting point guard, Garret began to turn heads last year with his ability to proficiently run the Raider's offense; he is one cool customer. "People tell me that one of my greatest assets is my calmness on the court. I think that I do pretty good at handling pressure, and so far I don't get rattled by players in my face." Garret, to be sure, has had ample opportunity to get rattled. He's already faced some of the state's best players while playing this past summer in the highly competitive Romulus summer league--not to mention being matched up against arguably the state's best sophomore point guard, Flint Southwestern's Anthony Crater.
For those of you who are new
to Great Lakes Hoops, you will quickly realize that Garret Konuszewski is the
kind of player we trumpet. He has not been enveloped in hype like so many
players without the commensurate ability. Garret meets our single
criterion: he can play. He is a smart player who controls the game
both with his mind and his body. He takes care of the ball, throws darts
to his teammates, knows when to attack the basket and shoots a high percentage
from the perimeter--not to mention his solid on-the-ball defense. He also
possesses the confidence of a.jpg)
big-game floor leader.
I asked Garret how he thought he stacks up against the other great point guards in the mid-Michigan area: "To be honest with you, I think that I can compete with any point guard in the state." (In other words, Jared, you can take the "mid" in "mid-Michigan" and stick it...) That was the answer I was looking for, GK.
Anyone who has followed
basketball in the Flint-area in the last decade knows the name Matt Jakeway.
He was Flushing's "Mr. Everything" in the late 1990's and went on to play
division one basketball at Kent State. Flushing hasn't had a division one
player since Jakeway, a fact not lost on the minds of the people comparing Matt
Jakeway to Garret Konuszewski. The similarities are there. "I
had a lot of respect for Matt Jakeway. We watched almost all of his games when
he was in high school and I am proud to think that some people have compared me
to him."
Jakeway was a
great three-point shooter, ball-handler and floor general. Garret
possesses all of those attributes and one more. He has what Matt Jakeway
never did, a bona fide position on the floor at both the high school and college
levels. Garret is a point guard in the truest sense of the term.
I'm not speaking out of school for anyone who saw Garret's performance against Flint Carman-Ainsworth two weeks ago. When his team needed him the most, in a big game, Garret stepped up with the performance of a lifetime. He scored 29 points and hit the game-winning shot with no time left on the clock. He was mobbed by his teammates at center court much to the chagrin of the Cavaliers and their fans. In that moment, all the long hours spent in the gym really paid off.
For those of you who didn't know, now you know. The lowdown on Garret Konuszewski is that he is good--in fact, he's even better than you think he is. (The phone's ringing...it's for Garret.) Do yourself a favor and go watch him perform. Garret plays the game the way it was meant to be played; it's refreshing. But, what else would you expect from the real "real thing?"
The LowDown on Christina Rivette