Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • D023

SPORTS ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017 SECTION NOW, THE THREE-QUEL The two super teams pick up where they left off as the Finals tip off tonight BY JOSH DUBOW ASSOCIATED PRESS OAKLAND, Calif. After a summer highlighted by Kevin decision to leave Oklahoma City for the star-laden Golden State Warriors, a six-month regular season and three rounds of playoffs, the NBA Finals are right back where they ended last June. Not that anyone expected any different. Take III of the NBA Finals trilogy between Golden State and the Cleveland Cavaliers gives Stephen Curry and Draymond Green a chance to avenge last Warriors collapse and LeBron James the opportunity to add a fourth title in his chase of Michael six. Perhaps most noteworthy, it gives Durant the chance at a first championship and validation for his decision to leave the Thunder and join the latest super team.

go out there and do everything on my own or I go out there and just let my teammates do all the work for Durant said Wednesday, a day before the series opener. got to do my part and we all got to make it come together as a This matchup has seemed ordained since James walked off the court in Oakland last June, having delivered his native northeast Ohio its first major team championship since 1964. James had won two titles as part of another in Miami, but last crown meant even more to his legacy. not in the people wrong, silence department no James said. got a promotion when I got to the 30s.

At the end of the day, I know the way built. My only motivation is to be able to compete for a championship every single The Warriors have been right there the past two years, winning the first title in 40 years in 2015 and then blowing a 3-1 lead last year to put a sour ending on a record-breaking 73-win season. That series turned when Green was suspended for Game 5 and James and Kyrie Irving took over from there. time someone beats you, love to play Green said. at the end of the day winning a championship is winning a championship.

You care who got to take down, you just want to take whoever that is BROWN CONNECTION: first trip to the Finals came 10 years ago when the Cavs were swept by San Antonio. His coach that year was Mike Brown, who has served as acting coach for the Warriors while Steve Kerr Today Cleveland at Golden State 7 p.m., ABC, 101.7 FM See NBA D2 ASSOCIATED PRESS From top to bottom, Golden Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Stephen Curry, left, brace for the Kevin Love, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, right. BY PATRICK NEWELL JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Wil Collins already was coming off a year when he lost his status on the Web.com Tour, a lingering wrist injury having kept him from performing to his full capability, and from earning enough money to maintain tour status. To start 2017, he went to Bogota, Colombia, for this opening event of the PGA Tour Latinoamerica one step below the Web.com Tour. And in South America, he came to the crossroads most pro athletes inevitably face.

can tell you, when I was ready to go down there, my mind quite right (for competitive he said. played, and the day I came back, I told my wife, going to try something The was to get a job. So, for the first time since he turned pro 15 years ago, the 38-year-old former University of New Mexico primary pursuit no longer is playing golf competitively as a pro though he is one really good round away from qualifying for the U.S. Open in two weeks. Instead, he has transitioned to teaching the game and is the golf coach at Arroyo del Oso.

Along the way, he is seeing BY GEOFF GRAMMER JOURNAL STAFF WRITER For some, it get here soon enough. Alas, the calendar reminds us the opening tip of the 2017-18 Lobo basketball season is still more than five months away. It will feature games with potential preseason No. 1 Arizona returning to the Pit, road games at regional foes UTEP and Colorado, and the two already heated games against New Mexico State. But when it does start, new University of New Mexico basketball coach Paul Weir, the former NMSU head coach, wants the entire state to be focused on the Pit on opening weekend.

He hopes to start the season off with a weekend of basketball inviting all the non- Division I programs, and at some point hopefully even incorporating high school teams, into Lobo hoops schedule taking form See LOBOS D6 Weir hopes to include D2 schools in the opening weekend Collins now pursues career outside game Ex-Lobo golfer hits reset button Paul Weir See COLLINS D4 JIM Cibola Amaya Brown, center, shows off a Florida State shirt with her high school coach Lori Mabrey, left, and AAU coach Robert Sanchez. BY JAMES YODICE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The secret Amaya Brown has been carrying around for six days became part of the public domain Wednesday. Cibola High dynamic 5-foot-11 senior-to-be guard, one of the most sought after basketball recruits in the history, announced she would play collegiately for Florida State. FSU won out over UCLA. Those were the only schools Brown, 17, chose for official visits.

had a better bond with the Florida State coaches, since they have been recruiting me since the eighth Brown said. Surrounded by about 30 family members and friends inside a downtown studio at ProView Networks, Brown sat behind a desk as she made her decision. has been a long, hard she said. As she decided, she stood up to take off a sweater to reveal a charcoal-colored T-shirt with the letters in red across the front. feel like they play my style, which is Brown said.

Dozens of top programs around the country had shown interest in Brown. Florida State made two in-home visits to Brown, in September and March. She visited the Tallahassee campus in early April. thought it would be a real country town, but a col Cibola star commits to Florida State hoop goal: To be a Seminole SUSPENSIONS DOG DALLAS The Cowboys are waiting word on suspensions of some key defenders. D6 See CIBOLA D6 Sweet savings are on the horizon.

geico.com 1-800-442-9253 Local Office Limitations apply. See geico.com for more details. GEICO affiliates. Washington, DC 20076 2017 GEICO 1326683-01.