UNLV’s Johnson Makes Point but Ultimately Comes Up Short

Larry Johnson, the Nevada Las Vegas power forward who figures to be one of the top players selected in the NBA draft June 26, thought he made a strong impression on Charlotte personnel director Allan Bristow when he auditioned for the Hornets last week.

“I went one-on-one with Bristow (a former NBA forward) and shut him out,” Johnson said. “I felt real good about it . . . until I discovered that Charlotte’s last two No. 1 picks, Rex Chapman and Kendall Gill, also blanked Bristow.”

Johnson’s emotion wasn’t all that fell. Listed by UNLV as 6 feet 7, NBA officials found Johnson to be only 6-5 1/2.

Trivia time: How many pounds of red clay are used in constructing each tennis court at the French Open?

Didyouseeit, didyouseeit?The now-famous highlight film shot, the right-handed-dunk-turned-left-handed-layup by Michael Jordan in Game 2, is finding its way into basketball lore. Some say it was one of Jordan’s top 10 shots.

According to Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post: “This one goes further than that. It’s his best.

“Knocked down to runner-up is the move in New York earlier in the playoffs when he shook Kiki Vandeweghe with a head fake, reverse-pivoted around Charles Oakley on the baseline, then went as high as he ever has for a dunk, on Patrick Ewing.

“Down to second runner-up is the move in Boston Garden during his record 63-point performance when he roared down the lane and totally dissed Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.

“The buzzer-beating, series-winning jumper over Cleveland’s Craig Ehlo in the ’89 playoffs where he hangs while Ehlo goes up, then comes down, was the most dramatic shot Jordan has hit, but it looks almost routine by comparison.”

Hackneyed phrase alert: The horse race, called the Mother Goose Stakes, today at Belmont Park--how big is it?

“It’s the mother of all Gooses,” one trainer said.

This is starting to become the mother of all cliches.

Sales have been slow: The following was overheard at a Dodger Stadium souvenir stand:

Customer: “I’d like to buy an Olympic Festival sweat shirt.”

Vendor: “Are you kidding?”

Trashing his fans: Mario Lemieux might soon be longing for the good old days, when his team was losing. So might his neighbors.

Ever since the Pittsburgh Penguins’ victory in the Stanley Cup finals, Lemieux’s home in suburban Mt. Lebanon, Pa., has become a tourist attraction. Most fans respect Lemieux’s privacy, but at least one groupie wasn’t content to look at the two-story stone structure.

She went through his garbage.

Trivia answer: Roland Garros Stadium uses more than 200 tons of pulverized brick per court.

Quotebook: Vin Scully, during Friday’s Cub-Dodger game: “Andre Dawson has a bruised knee and is listed as day-to-day. (Pause.) Aren’t we all?”