Ricky Sanchez

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Not to be confused with Rick Sanchez.
Ricky Sanchez
Position Power Forward
Height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Born July 6, 1987 (1987-07-06) (age 20)
Guayama, Puerto Rico
Nationality Flag of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican
Draft 2nd round, 35th overall, 2005
Portland Trail Blazers
Pro career 2005–present

Ricardo "Ricky" Sanchez (born July 6, 1987 in Guayama, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player. Sanchez has played with the Idaho Stampede in the NBA Development League and the Continental Basketball Association, and with the Caguas Creoles and Humacao Grays in the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico. He was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with 35th pick of the 2005 NBA Draft becoming the fourth Puerto Rican to be drafted by the National Basketball Association, and was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets for their selection, Jarrett Jack. Sanchez was then traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on September 10, 2007. Sanchez has been a member of the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team since 2007.

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[edit] Early life

Ricardo was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico to Radamés Sánchez and Sonia Rosa, and has an older brother named Jason. Early in his childhood he was interested in baseball following advice from a relative that was a former professional baseball player and considered that he had the attributes required to be a professional pitcher.[1] During this time period he studied in Colegio San Antonio, located in Guayama. Sanchez enjoyed baseball to the point where he self-imposed the nick name "Ricky Bones Alomar González" upon himself, using the last names of several Puerto Rican major league players to create it.[2] Ricky began developing his physical skills practicing both baseball in Liga Radamés Lopez and basketball in Liga de Baloncesto Infantil de Guayama, winning three national titles with the latter. Following his performance with this team he was one of the members selected to Guayama's Sports Hall of Fame.[3] In 1999 he traveled to Guatemala in order to participate in a reunion of players in his divion, following his participation in this activity he decided that he was going to play basketball, based on the amount of physical activity in the sport.[4] When he was thirteen years old he was referred to personnel of the Guayama Wizards the local National Superior Basketball team, by Miguel Mercado and began training under Rául Ayala.[5] In 2001 Ayala and Mercado joined the Caguas Creoles and Sanchez was translated to that team. Sanchez began the eight grade in Colegio San Antonio but was translated to Fancisco García Boyrié school, where he was part of a team that won the national sub-championship.[6] The following year his family moved to Caguas, Puerto Rico where he was enrolled at Bautista College. During this years Sanchez was part of Puerto Rico's juvenile national team.[7]

[edit] Basketball career

Sanchez received his high school education in the IMG Academy located in Bradenton, Florida where he participated with the academy's team. During this period he was trained by Joe Abunassar, who is responsible for training professional players Kevin Garnett and Al Harrington. He averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds during his senior high school year which prompted Abunassar to support Sanchez's decision to enter his name in the National Basketball Association Draft.[8] Sanchez became a well-known player in Puerto Rico's minor basketball leagues, quickly becoming a member of the exclusive Puerto Rico Pump-N-Run basketball team.[9] The Puerto Rico Pump-N-Run is made up exclusively of that country's very best young basketball players.

Sanchez started his professional career at the age of 14 where he played with the Caguas Creoles of the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico in 2001 playing in 7 games scoring 13 points with a 1.9 PPG average.[10] In 2002, at the age of 15 he played a second season with the Caguas Creoles playing 9 games scoring 18 points with a 2.0 PPG average.[10]

In 2005 Sanchez was widely expected to attend the University of Memphis and had signed a letter of intent when he suddenly announced he was skipping college to enter directly into the NBA Draft.

With his signing, Sanchez joins fellow Puerto Ricans Alfred Lee, Jose Ortiz, Ramon Rivas, Ramon Ramos, Daniel Santiago, Carlos Arroyo (who also played with the Nuggets) and Peter John Ramos, in chronological order, as NBA players from Puerto Rico. On October 26, 2006 fellow Puerto Rican Jose Juan Barea joined this group as well.

During the summer of 2005, Sanchez participated with the Denver Nuggets during the NBA Summer Pro League.

On November 12, 2005, Ricky Sanchez signed with the Idaho Stampede of the Continental Basketball Association. At the time of signing he was the youngest player to sign a CBA contract.[11]

In the early summer of 2006, Sanchez expressed interest in participating in the National Superior Basketball tournament, but the Denver Nuggets denied him permison to play.

In 2006, Sanchez participated with the Denver Nuggets during the NBA Summer Pro League for a second straight year. Sanchez was assigned to the NBA Development League to play with the Idaho Stampede for the 2006-2007 season on October 3, 2006. Sanchez played part of the BSN's 2007 season with Humacao Grays before receiving an injury on one of his legs.[12]

During summer of 2007, Sanchez represented Puerto Rico as a member of the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team during the 2007 Pan-American Games winning the Silver Medal. This was followed by a participation in the 2007 Fiba Americas Pre-Olympic tournament, where he performed as backup for Angelo Reyes. While Sanchez participated in the tournament Mark Warkentien, the Nuggets' vice-president of operations was in charge of scouting his progress.[13] When interviewed Warkentien noted that "the team was evaluating him" and that they wanted to know how he would "abjust to the team's future plans."[13]

On September 10, 2007, Billy King announced that Sanchez's rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with forward Reggie Evans for Steven Hunter and Bobby Jones.[14]

[edit] Career stats

  • Sanchez's NBDL stats in 50 games with 21 starts are 579 points with a 11.6 PPG, 85 assists with a 1.7 APG, 177 rebounds with a 4.2 RPG, 32 steals with a 0.6 SPG, 36 blocks with a 0.7 BPG, .404 field goal percentage, .744 free throw percentage, and .366 3-point percentage.
  • His CBA stats in 47 games are 374 points with an 8.0 PPG, 68 assists with a 1.4 APG, 170 rebounds with a 3.6 RPG, 28 steals with a 0.6 SPG, 34 blocks with a 0.7 BPG, .425 field goal percentage, .767 free-throw percentage, and .394 3-point percentage.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  2. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  3. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  4. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  5. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  6. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  7. ^ Luis Santiago Arce (2005-07-03). Un ex pelotero hacia la NBA. El Nuevo Día, 96-97. 
  8. ^ IMG Academies' Basketball Academy Student Ricky Sanchez Selected in the 2005 NBA Draft. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
  9. ^ Adidas Super 64 Final Results. Retrieved on 2007-06-08.
  10. ^ a b Estadísticas Jugador - Sanchez, Ricky (Spanish). Baloncesto Superior Nacional. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  11. ^ CBA Capsule. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.
  12. ^ Lester Jiménez (2007-08-25). Ricky Sánchez: despunta la promesa (Spanish). Primera Hora. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  13. ^ a b Carlos Rosa Rosa (2007-08-26). "Deportes", Con los ojos sobre Sanchez (in Spanish). Puerto Rico: El Nuevo Dia, 137. 
  14. ^ 76ers complete trade with Denver Nuggets. National Basketball Association (2007-09-10). Retrieved on 2007-09-10.

[edit] External links

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