Hawks sophomore forward Mouhamed Gueye spent plenty of his time in the gym this summer. As the team looks to develop him into a solid wing, they’ve put a lot of focus on building his strength and fans got a look during the Hawks’ Summer League loss to the Wizards on Friday.
Gueye drew the assignment of predominantly guarding Alex Sarr.
“For me it was more important to play with my teammates and try to get a ‘W’ but just go out there and compete and whatever happened on the floor, stays on the floor,” Gueye said after the game.
The French big man stands at 7-foot-0, 224 pounds and has about 14 pounds on Gueye, who is 6-11 and weighs 210 pounds.
But Gueye played aggressively, especially with the Hawks preaching the need for making their presence known. The 21-year-old leaned into the physicality of the matchup.
Gueye scored 17 points, grabbed four rebounds, had one block and three steals.
“I think we had a good game,” he said. “Obviously we wanted to win but they got it. It was just competing, nothing else.”
Gueye and Sarr didn’t shy away from competing against each other, as they pushed each other on both ends of the floor. Some of that acrimony spilled over between dead plays, with the two sometimes shoving each other or slapping each other’s hands away.
Some of it manifested into trash talk in both English and French.
Gueye is in the midst of a big offseason after navigating a rookie season marred with injuries. A right lower back injury held him out for almost half the season. He also dealt with other bumps and nicks in the second half of the season before playing four of the final five games of the regular season.
He’s added some size and built up some strength that allowed him to play through contact and get to the rim. He’s had 13 free-throw attempts in Friday’s game and knocked down nine.
“Mo’s been in the gym all summer working and all that,” Hawks Summer League coach Ronald Nored said. “And I thought he did a good job with it (Friday). He took the challenge defensively. I thought that fueled him offensively. The running, the cutting, the movement of the ball, we need that for Mo and I think he took the challenge (Friday).”
His growing strength also allowed him to help limit Sarr to 1-of-6 shooting overall in the first half.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
One of the next steps Gueye will have to take is finding ways to draw contact without taking hard falls. He fell five different times and each time he hit the deck on his back or tailbone, and after each fall, it took him a little longer to get up.
But he put pressure on the rim and the Hawks want him to keep attacking.
“We’re talking about presence defensively, but we’re also talking about it offensively,” Nored said. “And so for us to put pressure on the rim and get the defense on their heels is what we want and Mo took it right at them.”
Gueye has confidence that he and the rest of the Hawks will have a better outing in Sunday’s game.
“I mean, first game I was kind of rushing,” Gueye said. “I didn’t shoot the ball how I wanted. I was losing the ball left and right but I trust my work. I know it’s gonna pay off and next game we’re gonna bounce back.”
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