Ahmet Gueye wants to help the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team any way he can.

If it means sitting out practices, so be it.

Under doctor's orders, Gueye will skip some practices with the Rainbow Warriors throughout the rest of this season.

Gueye's right knee is not at full strength, so he is being advised not to practice more than two days in a row.

"I'll try to practice two days and then take one day off," he said. "I'm not happy about it. I don't like sitting on the side when my teammates are out there working hard, but I have to listen to the doctor."

Gueye underwent surgery in March to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The 6-foot-8 senior forward is averaging 10.1 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game for the 'Bows, who have a 4-4 record after a home loss to UNLV on Tuesday.

He started the season with double-doubles in the first two games, but his production has diminished in recent weeks.

"It was getting sore every day, but I didn't want to say anything because we had to play some really important games," Gueye said. "This last game (against UNLV), it was really bad; it was really swelled up. The doctor finally said I needed to rest. He said if I keep going hard every day, I wasn't going to make it to the middle of the season."

When Gueye was on the bench in the UNLV game, his knee had to be wrapped in a heating pad.

"Whenever I sit out for a couple of minutes, my knee gets cold and then it's hard for me to get it going when I do go back in the game," he said.

Hawai'i head coach Riley Wallace said Gueye will retain his starting position in games. Because the 'Bows do not play again until Dec. 16 (against Northwestern State), Wallace is giving Gueye the rest of this week off from practice.

Yesterday, for example, Gueye shot free throws on the side while the rest of the 'Bows went through practice.

"The thing you worry about is flying (to road games)," Wallace said. "That's when it puffs up."

Gueye said he will continue to attend rehabilitation sessions with trainers throughout the season.

"It's unfortunate that I have to be in this situation, but I'm not going to quit on this team," said Gueye, who is a co-captain.

WALLACE LOOKING FOR NEW STARTING LINEUP

Because Hawai'i does not play again until Dec. 16, Wallace said he will try various lineups in the upcoming practices.

Specifically, he would like more production in the low-post. Junior center Stephen Verwers started the first eight games of the season, but is averaging just 2.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He has not scored in Hawai'i's last two games.

"He works hard, and he's trying really hard in practice, but the shots just aren't going down for him right now," Wallace said. "So we're definitely looking at different guys."

Junior forward P.J. Owsley is averaging 5.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game off the bench. He has been working with the first team in practices this week.

Wallace said another option is to "go small" with guards Matt Gibson, Dominic Waters and Matt Lojeski, and forward Bobby Nash starting alongside Gueye.

"We have some time in between games, and with (Gueye) not practicing, it's a chance for a lot of other guys to show something," Wallace said.

'BOWS WILL NOT FILE COMPLAINT ON OFFICIALS

Wallace said he had a discussion with the commissioner of Western Athletic Conference officials about the officiating in Tuesday's game against UNLV, but he does not plan to file an official complaint or protest.

There were several questionable calls during the game, including an intentional foul assessed against Hawai'i in the closing seconds that sealed the victory for UNLV.

"I talked with the commissioner of officials, and it ends there," Wallace said. "There were some things I was wrong on, and some things (the referees) were wrong on. But you can't go back and change it, so you just move on."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.