Acquired by the Denver Nuggets in the 2005 draft Ricky Sanchez was a project big in the truest terms. Having only played one year of high school in the States, after leaving his native Puerto Rico, he was drafted in a high school heavy draft at only 17 years of age. Earlier this year his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in part of the Reggie Evans for Bobby Jones and Stephen Hunter trade. In his second season in the D-League the 611 power forward is averaging 8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 21 minutes per game.
Sanchez spends most games floating around the perimeter and shies away from contact. He has a sweet stroke for a guy his size and is a three point specialist, shooting at a 43% clip on the season despite a 1 for 4 outing today. The one real exception to this was a nice play where he faked the three, let the defender fly by, and took two dribbles to the left for a straightaway 20 footer. Its these types of plays that you never see from him, but show you glimpses of the potential that got him drafted in the first place.
Ricky Sanchez is tall and possesses a nice outside shot, but the same issues get raised with him time and again; he refuses to work on an inside game which means not only does he settle for outside shots, but hes also out of position for rebounds and easy buckets from around the basket. A 611 player in the D-League, with his tools, and Randy Livingston as his point guard, should have a field day around the rim, but instead he continues to hover around behind the arc as if he is a one-dimensional spot-up shooter. At only 20 years old there is still plenty of time to improve, and he has the physical gifts to do it, but essentially Ricky Sanchez is the same player he was when he came out of high school just 3 years older.
Comments