Warriors' Amundson healthy, ready to help

Lou Amundson was never expected to be a difference-maker when the Warriors signed him as a free agent last offseason. But certainly most thought he would be able to chip in some, and give the Warriors some help in an area of need: the frontcourt.

He's a relatively big body on a notoriously small team, and his best skills are rebounding and defense. Sounds like the perfect situation for a high-energy, role-playing guy like Amundson. But Amundson never really did a whole lot last season for the Warriors, not that all of it was his fault.

Amundson missed the first five weeks because of a finger injury, then missed another three weeks in February with back spasms. When he was healthy -- or relatively healthy -- it wasn't like former Warriors coach Keith Smart went out of his way to use Amundson consistently. He had seven DNP-CD's.

In the 46 games Amundson did play, he actually averaged about the same 15 minutes of playing time per game he did the previous season in Phoenix -- when he played 79 games and obviously was good enough for the Warriors to go after him. And yet Amundson's numbers were down across the board, in everything from scoring, rebounding, blocks and assists to field goal and free throw percentage.

"In retrospect, how I feel now with how I felt then. I wanted to feel like I was a 100 percent but knowing how I feel, I definitely wasn't," Amundson said after a workout with teammates. "That's difficult when you want to play and play at a hight level and your body just won't let you. With the finger and the back, it was a tough season. Obviously I want to stay healthy this year."