Warriors' Bogut battled back pain in Australia's Olympic qualifier

It's a good thing the FIBA Oceania Championship is an incredibly brief tournament.

Australia defeated New Zealand on Tuesday to sweep the home-and-home tournament, punching their ticket to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The two-game set spanned just four days, and Australia's bevy of NBA players can now return to their regular offseason regiments.

The Boomers were led by NBA champion and Golden State Warriors defensive linchpin Andrew Bogut, who had 10 points, 11 rebounds, and a pair of blocks in the 89-79 victory. There may be no player more thankful for the brevity of the tournament than Bogut, whose status for the game was in question due to a back injury.

"The body felt good," Bogut told reporters after the game. "I was battling a few little things but if you take enough pills and things you end up getting there. ... I was good enough to play, and you never want to use injury as excuse."

Bogut missed the team's initial flight to New Zealand due to back soreness, which he said had him bed-ridden with an ice pack, but was ultimately able to fight through it.

The issue may only be a minor concern for Bogut and the Warriors, considering Bogut was still able to play. But Bogut has missed an average of 30 games per year over the last seven seasons and hasn't appeared in more than 69 games since 2007-08. Given the variety of minor maladies he's dealt with, the prospect of Bogut entering the season with a lingering back issue would be troublesome.

In 2014-15, Bogut averaged 6.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, and 1.7 steals while shooting 56.3 percent from the floor. While the Warriors opted for a smaller, more nimble look in the NBA Finals, Bogut is expected to remain the team's starting center in 2015-16, no surprise given how dominant the team's starting unit was a season ago.