Caution! High expectations: sure, they're a trendy pick, but before the Warriors start selling playoff tickets, let's see if the veterans can stabilize a young team—and if Baron Davis can stay on the court

Derek Fisher was limping through the lobby of the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu's North Shore, knees wrapped in ice and Ace bandages. First day of training camp, perhaps the toughest day of the year. Especially when the night session ends with dreaded suicide drills, a sadistic regimen of stop-and-start running. Just a few hours earlier (pre-suicides), Fisher was all smiles, remarking about how good he felt, about how, despite his status as one of the veteran members of the Warriors, he sure didn't feel old. Heck, he's only 31.

Now, shuffling toward the hotel elevator as if wearing leaden shoes, Fisher changed his tone. "Tired," he said. "Maybe I am getting too old for this."

Maybe a little too old is not a bad thing for the Warriors, though. The team features all the trappings of should-be success: a relatively new addition (Baron Davis, who was acquired at last February's trading deadline), a strong finish to last season (they closed 20-10) and a starting five with four lottery picks. But it's also a team that faces the kind of pitfalls that have unraveled a long string of past up-and-comers. Chief among those is inexperience--the Warriors have six players 23 or younger and only three who are older than 26.

That's where guys such as Fisher, Adonal Foyle (30) and Calbert Cheaney (34) come in. "We know what we should be able to do this year," Fisher says. "I think it is up to the older guys to keep everyone else grounded, make sure we don't start believing we're as good as everyone else's expectations say we are."

Expectations have been raised, perhaps beyond reason, considering the organization's gloomy history. Fans are eager for a playoff appearance or even a Pacific Division title. But the Warriors haven't been to the postseason in 11 years and haven't won a division title since they were the defending NBA champs 30 years ago. No matter--the team sold more than 4,000 new season tickets this summer, most in the league, and drew an average of 16,480 to two preseason games. In the NBA's preseason poll of general managers, 28 percent said the Warriors would be the league's most improved team. There's a favorable early schedule (13 of the team's first 20 games are at home), which should translate to a good start.

"It's nice to be recognized, but there is more pressure on us, and that is not something we have had a lot here," fifth-year guard Jason Richardson says. "High expectations have never been the case as long as I have been here. We have to make sure that, once we get out on the court, we put all that aside."

On the court, vice president Chris Mullin has assembled some of the best young talent in the league. Davis and Richardson could be All-Stars, and they figure to lead the Warriors in a barrage of triple-digit offensive outputs. Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy are athletic, versatile forwards, and Foyle is a solid rebounder and shot blocker. The bench might be even more exciting. Mickael Pietrus. 23. Andris Biedrins. 19, and Zarko Cabarkapa, 24, showed their potential at the end of last season, and rookie big men Chris Taft and Ike Diogu could fill the Warriors' biggest void--scoring in the post.

All of that is cause for excitement. but when dealing with a franchise that was 274 games under .500 the past 11 seasons, caution is advisable. The Warriors still are searching for on-court chemistry, and the defense is below average (24th in the league last season). The team struggled to finish close games last season, and free-throw shooting will be a sore spot. Only four Warriors--Cabarkapa, Dunleavy, Fisher and Murphy--are better than average free throw shooters.

Then there's Davis. As well as he played at the end of last season, he still is trailed by a string of hack ankle and conditioning problems that sidelined him for an average of 27 games over the past three seasons. A lengthy injury to Davis would KO the uptempo attack and take Warriors-to-the-playoffs talk with it. Remember, too, that Davis clashed with teammates, coaches and management in New Orleans and displayed a tendency to break off plays to jack up quick 3-pointers. That hastened his trade for the shabby package of Speedy Claxton and cap space, and whether there will be a recurrence of such problems with the Warriors is unknown.

"Baron is the wild card," says one Western Conference scout. "He gave up on the Hornets, and when a player does that, it is going to follow him forever. If he's healthy and motivated, he's one of the best guards in the league. But it's been a while since he was healthy and motivated for a whole season."

Already, Davis is battling an injury, having hurt his left hamstring on a fast-break layup in the Warriors' opener against the Hawks. But the Warriors did not wilt in the face of Davis' injury, thanks in large part to the veteran presence of Fisher. Even with Davis in the game, Golden State struggled in the first half against lowly Atlanta and was down 11 with 10:25 to play in the third quarter. Then coach Mike Montgomery went with a small lineup that included Fisher as the shooting guard. An assist and a 3-pointer from Fisher helped put the Warriors up five by the time Davis was injured--a lead they would stretch to 25 by game's end, with Davis resting and cheering from the bench.