Amundson's role could grow under Mark Jackson

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Lets face it, if Warriors coach Mark Jackson followsthrough on his promise to demand that his players defend, then it stands toreason forward Lou Amundson could benefit.Amundson is one of the few players on the Warriors with adefensive mindset, and his ability to be physical, block some shots, reboundand take a hard foul may very well lead to him having more of a role with thisyears Warriors than last years Warriors.Going into this knowing the emphasis hes going to put ondefense, thats something I really believe in, Amundson said Friday, from theWarriors practice facility. Being on that Phoenix team and kind of witnessingand being a part of the transformation we made from a mediocre defensive teamto a rather good defensive team, as players its what we need to make happen.It gets me excited to bring that here.It wasnt an overly dramatic defensive improvement for theSuns from 2008-09 to 2009-10, but it was effective. They went from giving up107.5 points per game to giving up 105.3 points per gamebut that helped themto an eight-game improvement, from 46 wins to 54 wins.That kind of nudge-up for the Warriors would put them in theplayoff mix in the Western Conference.Amundson played only 46 games a year ago, a victim of injuryand former coach Keith Smarts rotation. He averaged only four points and 4.3rebounds per game and shot 45 percent from the fieldwell below his 55 and 54percent from the field in the previous two seasons.But Amundsons intent is have a bounce-back year, and hecould be on his way. He has worked out and played basketball all offseason andhe was the first Warrior player back to the Bay Area now that the lockout hasended.If the Warriors are going to make good on Jacksons otherpromiseto make the playoffstheyre going to need contributions from lotsof players, not the least of which is Amundson.If you have a good second unit, that can change the game,Amundson said. Obviously, you put a lot of expectations on the first unit todo the job at the start of games and in crunch time. But a lot of times gamesare won and lost in that middle timeat the end of the first quarter or endof the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.

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