Manu Lecomte is Playing a Lot Like Tweety Carter

Entering the 2009-2010 season, the Bears were picked 10th in the Big 12. The voters had a number of concerns, but the primary worry was about how Baylor could replace Curtis Jerrells at point guard.

The Bears entered this season without any votes in the A.P. Top 25 for the first time since 2009-2010. Although many were concerned about the loss of Rico Gathers and Taurean Prince, these Bears faced questions about how the team would replace Lester Medford at point guard. Through three games, Manu Lecomte has shown a lot to remind Baylor fans of Tweety Carter.

Lecomte, like Carter, has been an excellent three point shooter. Three games is not much of a sample size. But Lecomte shot 46% at Miami. He doesn’t seem like he’s suddenly going to struggle from deep.

Lecomte and Carter are both excellent three point shooters, in part, because they can quickly fire with the advantage from a screen, which leaves the defense little time to recover. Carter does in the first clip, and Lecomte does in the second.

Both Carter and Lecomte are excellent pulling up in transition. Carter does against Duke, and Lecomte does against the Ducks.

Carter and Lecomte are also both undersized point guards. Carter is 5’10 and Lecomte is 5’11. But both find a way to score near the hoop. Lecomte struggled in his last season at Miami. But this season, he’s shooting 80% at the rim, according to hoop-math.com.

Carter and Lecomte both get the ball high near the hoop to avoid shot blockers. Carter does via a floater, and Lecomte goes high off the glass.

The 2009-2010 team was better than many expected because of the connection between LaceDarius Dunn and Carter. Those two played together for three years and seemed to always know where the other guy wanted the ball. Carter helped Dunn become one of the best scorers in Big 12 history and was a big reason Dunn held the Big 12 career scoring record until Buddy Hield broke his record at the end of last season.

The 2016-2017 connection between Lecomte and Al Freeman will not be like Carter and Dunn, but through three games, Lecomte has been a key part of Freeman’s improvement because he constantly finds him.

Carter and Lecomte are two excellent point guards. Lecomte has not made it through a Big 12 season or led the Bears deep into the tournament like Carter did. But Lecomte has orchestrated the team in many ways that are reminiscent of Carter. The A.P. didn’t believe in the 2009-2010 Bears, and the A.P. didn’t believe in these Bears either. Through three games, Lecomte is well on his way to proving the A.P. as wrong as Carter did at the beginning of this decade.