The Warriors' Baron Davis describes the 2007-08 season as a "turning point for this organization to figure out where they want to be, how they want to be seen in this league." Icon Sports Media

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Davis is 28 in an older man's body, and as he enters what should be his peak years, he is playing with newfound urgency. He belongs in the conversation with Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Chauncey Billups as one of the best point guards in the league, but to make it a foursome, he knows he'll have to quarterback his team deep into the playoffs as the other three have done. He is too talented to allow last season's first-round upset of the top-seeded Mavericks to stand as the high point of his career.

"What we did last year put us on the map and let people know that I should be considered with those guys,'' Davis said of Nash, Kidd and Billups. "The thing about those guys is they have great teams, and those teams have been constructed to win championships. Our team was constructed last year -- when Nellie came -- to try to make the playoffs. That was a first step.

"Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups, they're going to organizations that are used to winning championships [or] being in the playoffs, so their situation is a lot different than mine. My situation was to try to get this team to the playoffs. So that's the argument against me, that I didn't go deep in the playoffs, but you've got to look at how long this team's been together and how much we accomplished in a short period of time.''

Wednesday's lapse notwithstanding, Davis feels himself improving. "The game is coming a lot easier for me, as far as understanding flow and tempo and not forcing,'' he said.

In a few years, he envisions these Warriors contending for a championship, provided they remain these Warriors. "We have a lot of free agents and this is a critical year, a turning point for this organization to figure out where they want to be, how they want to be seen in this league,'' he said.

He can opt out this summer, and he sounded willing to give up next season's $17.2 million salary in exchange for a long-term contract. "The longevity, being able to have security for a long period of time, is the most important thing for me,'' he said.

Davis expressed a healthy approach to the All-Star debate when I met him at the Warriors' hotel Wednesday afternoon. Nash, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Allen Iverson, Manu Ginobili, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Deron Williams and Brandon Roy are among his rivals for no more than six spots on the roster. Davis went out of his way to praise them before summing up.

"If I were to vote, I would vote for Obama,'' he said. In other words, there are bigger issues than whether he makes another All-Star team.

For instance, can Davis continue to play all-out without doing himself in? The Warriors need him to be their Kevin Garnett -- in a smaller package with a bigger scoring average. One exhausted night against the league's hottest team underlined that it hasn't been at all easy.