Spokesman.com
Mouhamed Gueye traded buckets for defense, and it's working
Mouhamed Gueye walked into the NBA as a scorer. He's making his money as a stopper. That's the kind of pivot that keeps a second-round pick in the league, and after watching him play 77 games this season for Atlanta, it's working. Gueye averaged 14.3 and 8.4 at WSU. He was the guy. Then he got to the Hawks and realized everybody in the building can put the ball in the basket. So he figured out the other end. At 6-11 with a 7-3 wingspan, he can guard one through five. That's not a throwaway line. That's how you go from six games as a rookie to a rotation guy on a playoff team. The numbers won't jump off your phone screen, 4.4 points, 3.6 boards, but the Hawks don't need him to score. They need him to make life miserable for whoever he's guarding. He did that all season, and now Atlanta is the fifth seed in the East, headed to New York to open the playoffs Saturday. Gueye also keeps an eye on the Coug pipeline. Klay Thompson is still the standard, and Gueye says every time they see each other it's "Go Cougs." Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward are in Memphis. Isaac Jones is in Detroit. The fraternity is small, but it's growing. If you're tracking how WSU hoops is rebuilding, our story on the Cougs adding a big body from Northwestern is worth a read.
