Sports

OAKLAND (AP) ― Baron Davis is aware of every label that's been affixed to him. He's undisciplined, headstrong and injury-prone -- a mediocre teammate and a nightmare to coach.

With Don Nelson in charge of the Golden State Warriors this fall, Davis says he's determined to peel off every old label and affix a new one: eager student.

So far, class is going well. Davis blew the Portland Trail Blazers off the court in the Warriors' only home exhibition game, scoring 20 points in the second half of a victory that kept Golden State unbeaten in the preseason.

Davis dominated inside and out, aggressively running the point like Steve Nash or Mike Bibby -- two guards whose play he's striving to emulate this season. Davis finished with 33 points and 13 assists -- and afterward, Nelson had nothing good to say about any player except his point guard.

Who ever would have guessed Davis would be the least of his coach's problems this season?

"He was extra hard on us at halftime, and I totally understood," said Davis, a two-time All-Star with the New Orleans Hornets. "He's pushing us. He's pushing me, and I'm accepting the challenge. I definitely feel that I need somebody like that. That's something I always wanted."

Nelson knew his second stint with the Warriors could never compare to his first, when he led Golden State to its most recent playoff berth in 1994. The NBA is different now -- partly thanks to Nelson's influence on the uptempo, skilled style of basketball that now dominates the league.

With Davis, Jason Richardson and the various spare parts remaining from the Warriors' 12th straight year out of the postseason, the NBA's second-winningest coach is ready to build a team that can compete in the league he helped to create.

"Baron, when he's in the system and healthy, he's going to have the opportunity to be an All-Star-caliber player," Nelson said.

But the process of building the Warriors into something better than a club with 12 consecutive losing seasons will take months and years. In the aftermath of that sloppy win over Portland, Nelson couldn't enjoy any success with all that work looming ahead.

"Just about the time you think you're doing well, somebody hits you with a baseball bat," Nelson said. "It was embarrassing, because I wanted the fans to be excited about our team. ... I was angry at probably everybody on the floor. There wasn't hardly anything they did right. There were just too many things to correct."

But Nelson has turned around too many teams to get more than temporarily discouraged.

Nelson's club won't fully take shape until Richardson, the Warriors' leading scorer last season with a career-best 23.2 points per game, has fully recovered from left knee surgery during the summer. Troy Murphy, the longtime power forward expected to play center for Golden State, also was slowed in the preseason by a broken nose.

Both hope to be in the lineup with the Warriors open the regular season Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, but blending them into a cohesive rotation will take longer.

The rest of Nelson's core still isn't certain. Mickael Pietrus and Mike Dunleavy impressed him during camp, while Monta Ellis and Adonal Foyle decidedly didn't. Nelson plans to run and score with the same ferocity his Dallas Mavericks teams showed, which means anybody who can score consistently will play.

Nobody plays that game better than Davis, who longed to play for an aggressive coach whenever his previous teams faced the Mavericks or other uptempo teams. Davis will be the primary scorer in many offensive sets, with Dunleavy perhaps finally starting to earn his massive contract extension as a point forward.

Nelson's style also could be perfect for Dajuan Wagner, the former No. 6 overall draft pick in Cleveland who missed all of last season after having his colon removed. He signed with Golden State as a free agent and immediately proved himself adept at taking direction -- and taking off.

The undersized Murphy will be Nelson's starting center most nights, and the Warriors' defense doubtless will be a season-long sore spot -- after all, they weren't good last season, and Nelson's clubs historically give up a lot of points because they're busy scoring their own.

But Nelson's new partnership with Davis is the lynchpin for the Warriors' success. Davis had little respect for former coach Mike Montgomery, who had never led an NBA team -- and so far, he's thrilled to be under the tutelage of an authority figure who both played and coached in the league before.

"I had that with Paul Silas when my career started to take off," Davis said. "And then I had three coaches in three years, and that helped me figure out some things on my own. ... You just need a good coach, a coach you respect. Having a coach like him is great, because he's a personality in his own right. I don't mind following great leaders.

"When he tells me at the end of a game that I had a good game, that's satisfying for me."

So were Davis' 33 points and 13 assists good enough to earn those kind words?

"Nah," Davis said with a chuckle.

(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)