What’s in a name?

CHANGSHA – The name on the back of Trey Johnson’s jersey reads Finhoir J III.  It’s what’s in his passport and under FIBA rules, that’s what should appear on the back of a player’s jersey in any FIBA competition. That’s the reason why Jayson Castro is Jayson William and Paul Lee is Paul Dalistan in the FIBA rolls.  Castro and Lee took their mother’s name but their birth certificates show their father’s name.

Trey Johnson is Clinton Finhoir Johnson III but everyone knows him as Trey which is basketball lingo for the three-point shot. He’s one of five NBA veterans playing at the 28th FIBA Asia Championships here.  The others are Japan’s Yuta Tabuse, China’s Yi Jianlian, Iran’s Hamed Haddadi and the Philippines’ Andray Blatche.

Johnson, 31, is leading the charge for Qatar, the tournament’s King of Overtime.  He hit 31 points in Qatar’s 79-75 overtime win over Kazakhstan and matched the total in a 105-100 double extension decision over Lebanon.  Qatar’s only loss in the preliminaries was a 72-64 shocker to Chinese-Taipei but the stain wasn’t carried over to the second round because Chinese-Taipei failed to advance.  Qatar opened the second round on a sour note, losing to Jordan, 84-73, but bounced back to stun Korea, 69-63.  Johnson presided in the victory over Korea with 15 points, three rebounds and four assists.

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It’s been a homecoming of sorts for Johnson at Qatar.  He suited up for the national team at the FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo in 2012, leading Qatar to the bronze medal with a 17.3 scoring clip, then played elsewhere.  Instead of Johnson as the naturalized player, Qatar went with Jarvis Hayes at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championships and Boney Watson at the Asian Games last year.  Qatar missed out on a podium finish in both competitions, landing sixth in Manila and also sixth in Incheon.

Johnson played both baseball and basketball as a high schooler.  In 2002, he was picked on the 30th round by the Kansas City Royals in the pro baseball draft.  But after Johnson sustained an elbow injury that required surgery while pitching for Alcorn State, he decided to focus on basketball.  It was a decision he’ll never regret.

From Alcorn State, Johnson transferred to Jackson State where he averaged 23.5 points to rank 10th in the NCAA in scoring in 2005-06.  He thought about declaring early for the NBA draft but eventually returned to play a final year at Jackson State.   As a senior, Johnson hit at a 27.1 clip, second in the NCAA in scoring behind future PBA import Reggie Williams.  Offense was Johnson’s trump card and in one collegiate game against the University of Texas at El Paso, he erupted for 49 points.

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Despite his collegiate exploits, Johnson went undrafted in the NBA.  But that didn’t stop his dream of making it to the big league.  He managed to sign short-term contracts with Cleveland, the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto and New Orleans but never had a meaningful NBA career.  Johnson played four games with the Cavaliers, one regular season and three playoff games with the Lakers, seven games with the Raptors and 11 games with New Orleans.  He also saw action in five NBA D-League seasons with the Bakersfield Jam and in 2010-11, averaged 25.5 points.

With the NBA door closing, Johnson focused on playing overseas and the journey has taken him to Serbia, France, Italy, Venezuela, Israel, Japan and Qatar.   Last season, he averaged 9.6 points with the Hitachi Sunrockers in the Japanese league.

At the ongoing FIBA Asia Championships, Johnson has gained a reputation as the ultimate go-to guy who won’t hesitate to take the big shot to win or lose a game.  Against Lebanon, Johnson buried a cold-blooded triple at the buzzer to send it into a second overtime.  He also played a key role in sparking Qatar’s extension win over Kazakhstan, compiling 31 points, 14 boards and four assists.

No matter what’s on the back of his jersey, Johnson is well known in basketball circles as Mr. Clutch.  His nickname Trey speaks for itself.