Johnson’s perfection put in perspective

A slight frown crossed Gibson Johnson’s face, just for a moment, as he looked at the statistics sheet.

What could he see on there not to like?

Then the smile returned, as Johnson and his University of Hawaii basketball teammate Mike Thomas prepared to answer questions Wednesday night. They knew they’d be mostly easy questions, since the Rainbow Warriors had just beaten Hawaii Pacific 90-70.

It was just an exhibition warm-up for the regular season that starts a week from today, but Johnson especially had reason to be happy.

“I’d frame that,” I told him, referring to the piece of paper documenting his perfect shooting performance: 7-for-7 from the floor, 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, good for a team-high 18 points.

He laughed.

“I hope I can do it in a game that actually means something,” he said.

Later, he revealed the reason for his consternation.

“When did I make a turnover?”

It was just one, early in the second half.

For those with high expectations, even perfect isn’t perfect. Johnson probably also thinks he should’ve had more than three rebounds and one assist.

His coach, Eran Ganot, said Johnson is the kind of player who will kick it out when he doesn’t have a good shot.

“He’s getting a lot of one-on-one because of (good team ball movement),” Ganot said. “When guys converge on him, he’ll look outside. If you’re a willing passer … sometimes passers are hard to guard, guys who are willing to move the ball.”

UH is expected to have a balanced attack this season, and it did against HPU.

“It comes off what the other players are doing,” Johnson said of his scoring opportunities that resulted in flawless shooting. “It’s a reflection of what my teammates are doing.”

On a team that has more than enough 3-point shooters, Johnson is a 6-foot-8 forward who doesn’t stray far from the basket. He’s dependable in the paint, and all his baskets came in the low-post Wednesday.

If you think Johnson is only effective in exhibitions against Division II teams, you either forgot or didn’t know that in 2016-17 he was an All-Big West honorable mention pick after scoring 11.4 points per game (second on the ’Bows to Noah Allen).

He scored in double figures in 21 of UH’s 30 games, and led the team with a .514 field-goal percentage.

Johnson said he couldn’t remember ever playing in a prior game where he made every shot he took.

But his reaction to that one turnover made me think about that concept of flawless performance in sports.

Is there even such a thing as actual, pure perfection?

Take the baseball “perfect game” for example. I’m not denying the mastery it takes to pitch a game in which no opposing batter reaches base. But wouldn’t real perfection be either A: Striking out all 27 batters on three pitches each, or B: Needing just one pitch to retire each of the 27?

Bowling is one of the sports where perfect really is perfect, and is actually achieved on occasion. There’s really no denying a 300 game: You either knock down all 10 pins 12 times in a row, or you don’t.

Dennis Nakano of Kaneohe came very close … until he didn’t.

“With everyone looking on, the ball felt so heavy on that 12th roll. Pushed it out too hard and it went skidding out to the edge of the one board … hung on halfway over the gutter before coming back a bit to take out (three pins). Strange how you can be so embarrassed over bowling a near-perfect game.”

Maybe it’s not technically a sport, but the military’s Physical Fitness Test is certainly an athletic endeavor. Unless it’s changed from back in the early 1980s when I was always a few points short of maxing out, a perfect score is 300. But that’s about all the PFT — a 2- or 3-mile run, sit-ups and pull-ups or push-ups — has in common with bowling. You need to be in good shape to get a perfect score in the PFT.

Back to more leisurely pursuits:

As I like to remind Brian McInnis, since it was his housewarming where it happened, I retired from beer pong with a perfect record.

Yes, I admit that record is 1-0.

And I thought that was pretty special, until my old college buddy Rich LeVine weighed in with his accomplishment.

“Went 3-0 in beer pong at my office Halloween party,” Rich wrote. “Wearing Darth Vader gloves.”

It just goes to show. There’s perfect, and then there’s perfect.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.