Warriors Are on a Roll With Davis in Charge

Not even Baron Davis anticipated the effect he’s having on the Golden State Warriors -- and Davis isn’t a man who lacks imagination.

The Bay Area’s perennially pathetic NBA franchise has been the league’s most impressive team during the last three weeks, winning seven straight games and 10 of 11 through last Friday. That stretch included two victories over the Sacramento Kings and wins against playoff-bound Phoenix, Houston and Seattle.

These are more than discount wins at the end of another lost season for the Warriors. From Derek Fisher’s buzzer-beating overtime 3-pointer against Milwaukee to Davis’ 40-point, 13-assist performance against Houston, they seem to be developing a style and a swagger -- something the Warriors haven’t possessed in a decade.

That’s exactly what the charismatic, cocky Davis brought with him when Golden State acquired the two-time All-Star point guard at the trade deadline.

“We’re doing things that a lot of people thought this franchise wasn’t capable of,” Davis said. “I came to this team and evaluated each and every individual. That’s what I do, study basketball. It’s up to me to give them that confidence and show that I believe in each and every one of them.”

The Warriors won 14 of their first 21 games with Davis, who has compensated for his subpar shooting percentage with eight assists per game. The aspiring movie producer sees the final two months of this season as a dress rehearsal for a similar full-season effort, coming to an arena near you in the fall.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to make us playoff material next year,” Davis said. “We’re not looking at our record. We’re concentrating on our record after the trade.”

Davis’ shortcomings were well-documented while the Hornets collapsed during the last two years. He still takes a few too many shots and struggles on defense in certain matchups, but the Warriors have none of coach Byron Scott’s questions about Davis’ attitude and work ethic.

The Warriors will miss the playoffs for the 11th straight season, but a team full of supporting players believes it finally has found a leader.

“We were a pretty good team before Baron got here, [but] we were just missing somebody like him,” said guard Jason Richardson, whose breakout season has been even better since Davis’ arrival. “Now that we’ve got somebody like him, it’s just showing everybody we can play.”

Davis, Richardson, Troy Murphy, Adonal Foyle and Fisher all are signed to long-term contracts. The players seem to get along off the court as well -- again with leadership from Davis, who has gone out of his way to develop relationships with every player.

“I’m going to stand for Baron’s first kid, second kid and third kid -- be his uncle,” Foyle said. “He has a very infectious personality. He’s like a virus. He infects everybody and has the ability to get under people’s skin.”

*

After nine coaching changes since late December, only four NBA coaches have been with their teams longer than three years.

While San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich is going strong, three of the stalwarts -- Seattle’s Nate McMillan, Sacramento’s Rick Adelman and Utah’s Jerry Sloan -- have been under varying degrees of pressure this season. But despite the talk-radio rumors to the contrary, none of the three seems likely to join that snaking unemployment line this summer.

McMillan is in the final year of his contract, but the former SuperSonics guard put off negotiations until after the season, when he’ll be a top vote-getter for the NBA’s coach of the year award. This was a make-or-break season for McMillan -- and he definitely made it at just the right time, setting himself up for a big payday in Seattle or elsewhere.

But after nearly two decades with the Sonics as a player and coach, he seems unlikely to uproot his life in the Pacific Northwest -- and the Sonics have given every indication they plan to re-sign him.

“Nothing has changed about that,” McMillan said. “That’s something we’ll deal with after the season, and it’s not a big issue for anybody.”

The Jazz have collapsed in Sloan’s 17th season in charge, heading for the draft lottery with their worst record during his tenure. If the 63-year-old was tired of the losing grind with a rebuilding team, it would be understandable.

But earlier this week, Sloan chuckled at a report suggesting he was seriously considering retirement. He has seemed invigorated this season despite his wife’s death from pancreatic cancer last summer.

“There’s nothing any different than what it’s always been at this stage of the year,” said Sloan, who plans to make his decision fairly soon after the season ends.

Adelman will lead the Kings into their seventh straight playoff appearance despite another round of injuries and the club’s midseason roster overhaul. Still, his future was in limbo earlier this season before he got a contract extension through 2006.

Just as Sloan does, Adelman seems excited by the challenge of putting together another winning team with new players -- and Geoff Petrie has a deep loyalty to his former teammate in Portland. Only an ultimatum from the Maloof brothers seems likely to force Adelman’s departure, and Sacramento’s owners usually defer to their president of basketball operations’ judgment.

“I’m not thinking about next year, even next month,” Adelman said. “We’ve got other concerns.”

*

The Lakers will miss the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, and they also could lose bragging rights at Staples Center. They’re in a dead heat with the Clippers, who haven’t finished above their purple-and-gold brethren in the Pacific Division standings since 1993. At least the Lakers won’t match their sixth-place division finish in 1992 -- the Pacific only has five teams now. Chicago entered the weekend with the NBA’s best record in 2005 -- 33-14 before Friday night’s game against New York. ... More than 60 NBA hopefuls suited up at the 53rd annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this weekend. Dozens of scouts usually attend the biggest team showcase before the Chicago pre-draft camp.