Cyclone Sports Report: How has Lucca improved since the end of last season?Coach Rutter: The first thing is that he's dropped some weight. Last year he played at 225 pounds at times and he came back from Germany down to 217 pounds. I think a very important thing with Lucca is that he shored up his ballhandling this summer and he really seems to be a lot more comfortable with his handle.
Cyclone Sports Report: What do you want to see Lucca keep improving on?
Coach Rutter: We want to see Lucca incorporate more physical play especially play. We want to see it both on offense when he's taking the ball in the lane and on defense against the guy he is trying to stop. I think we know that he's one of our best shooters but we want him to mentally have himself ready to shoot the ball more this season. We don't want him to use a shot fake as much if he doesn't need it. If he has a clean look right away he needs to shoot the ball.
Cyclone Sports Report: What will Lucca's role be this year?
Coach Rutter: I think it will be very similar to last season in that we really need him to stretch the defense with his three-point shot. He's a very good passer and with his improved ballhandling skills we also feel he can expand his game on offense. We expect him defensively to continue to bring the great energy that he brings to the court but we also want to continue to show a greater understanding of our defensive concepts.