ahhh yep that would be correct, I think with sprites you can change their UV co-ords can you ? if you want to use jsut a part of an image for the sprite...
void dbSetSpriteTextureCoord( int iID, int iVertex, float tu, float tv );
Also, you can use dbPasteSprite, to paste an existing sprite to a new position, rather than create a new one which is what dbSprite does.
Have a look through the DarkSDKSprites.h header files, there are a few interesting commands in there.
EDIT : you would need to call that command 4 times to keep the sprite square, a sprite has 4 vertices.... top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right....
If it ain't broke.... DONT FIX IT !!!