Owls fly in formation with Sanchez at the point

Anarchy reigns for Temple's offense when senior guard Pepe Sanchez can't play. To say that the Temple men's basketball team is a different squad without Pepe Sanchez on the floor is an enormous understatement. Tabbed as a preseason All-American by numerous basketball magazines, Sanchez was living up to his hype with a 10-assist, nine-point, seven-steal, seven-rebound performance in Temple's season-opener versus Miami (Ohio). But then, the 6'4" point guard sprained his right ankle with only 15 seconds left in the game -- and the Owls went downhill from there. "It was supposed to be a great year for us, and we were very excited about it, and people were excited for us too," said Sanchez, who scored 10 points and had seven assists in the Owls' 72-50 win over La Salle last night. "Then we had the injuries -- my injury and Mark Karcher's -- so it slowed down the process of us becoming a good team." Temple struggled to a 5-3 mark without Sanchez, averaging less than nine assists per game and often looking lost on offense. Owls coach John Chaney, never one to mince words, quipped after a devastating 77-72 loss to Wake Forest that, "We're headless horsemen without Sanchez." But, after sitting out eight games, Sanchez finally made his way back onto the court and led his team to a 4-1 record in its five most recent contests. On the year, Sanchez has 54 assists compared to only ten turnovers -- a ratio of better than 5:1 ratio. In the five games since his return, he has recorded an astounding average of 5.16 steals per evening. "Defensively, probably from watching the game from outside for eight games, it gave me a new perspective," Sanchez said. "I've never had a chance to sit out and be looking for where the offensive players make most of their errors and to study the parts of their game. "So I learned something from sitting out, and it makes me a better defensive player." But if Sanchez had had his way, he would have only missed two or three games -- not the eight that he was forced to sit out. Chaney, in his 19th year at Temple, though, was more concerned with Sanchez's health than his return. "I value that kid, and he's pretty special to me," Chaney told the Associated Press after Sanchez's eighth straight DNP, a 62-44 Owls loss to Wisconsin. The coach -- who had called Sanchez's court actions "Argentinian loco" -- added that he "can be his worst enemy because he is a macho person." But control, and ball control in particular, is nothing new to this native of Bahia Blanca, Argentina. For Sanchez, a four-year starter, the hardcourt is but a canvas upon which he can paint, and the ball is his brush. As a freshman, Sanchez averaged 5.3 assists and was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team. As a sophomore, he notched a school-record 93 steals and was selected as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Eight of these thefts came in a 67-58 win over Penn. "I don't think that there's any question that Pepe Sanchez is an outstanding basketball player," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said. "Defensively, he creates so many turnovers for their team. Even when he doesn't get the steals himself, he disrupts your offense a little bit. "And on the offensive end, his precision is terrific. He always sees the right guy." Last year, with a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and with a new school-record 101 steals, the slick lefty was selected as the '98-99 Big 5 Player of the Year. "I'd love to be a two-guard on his team because he sorts things out so well," Penn senior guard Michael Jordan said. "He means a lot to that team. He kind of calms everybody down. When he wasn't there, it seemed like Temple was having a see-who-can-put-up-the-most-shots kind of thing." Dunphy had high praise for the speedy Temple southpaw as well. "He's a pleasure to watch play," Dunphy said. "I'm not sure he's going to be a pleasure to play against, but he's a pleasure to watch play." Too often, though, Sanchez has not been playing. Sprained ankles caused him to miss three games as a sophomore and one more as a junior -- last season's 73-70 overtime loss to the Quakers -- before the eight that he sat out this year. Some might even say that Sanchez's toughest opponent has been his ankles. "I get sprains a lot of times," said Sanchez, who was unsure of which ankle he sprained before the Penn game a year ago. Health concerns, however, will probably not prevent one of ESPN's top-nine senior point guards in the nation from joining Temple alums Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie at the next level. "The idea is to see what my situation is with the NBA, and the second [option] is to go to play professional in Europe," said Sanchez, who led the Owls to the Elite Eight last season. "Probably economically, money-wise, I can make more money in Europe than I can make in the first few years in the NBA. "But my dream is to play in the NBA because nobody has done that from my country yet." For now, however, Sanchez will have to content himself with playing in the Big 5 and with facing off against Penn tomorrow night.

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