Martinez eager to finally put Spain on the podium

PIESTANY (FIBA U18 European Championship 2017) - If there is a team at the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 that has not been on the best of terms with Lady Luck, it is undoubtedly Spain.

Having been left right at the gates of the podium both at the FIBA U16 European Championship 2015 in Kaunas and later at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2016 in Zaragoza, the luckless Spaniards have two fourth-place finishes to show for their struggles.

However, the team’s lead man Sergi Martinez, an All-Star Five member at the U17 level last year, hopes the unfortunate curse can be put to an end in the Slovak Republic this summer, with Spain setting their sights on the medals.

"Every single year, we have been closer to getting a medal than the previous one and I think this year we will get the desired result," the forward told FIBA.basketball before the tournament tipped off in Piestany.

The 18-year-old Spanish prospect added another close dud to his resume at the FIBA U18 European Championship last year in Samsun, where the 1998-born, a year older, generation of players finished in the fifth position after losing out to Germany in the Quarter-Finals.

Despite playing up a year, Martinez was still Spain's leading scorer, averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, and laid a solid foundation for his second go-around at the FIBA U18 European Championship.

"I have had the luck to play for FC Barcelona Lassa, which has made me a better player over the course of the season. The coach pushed me harder every day in team practices, the weight room and individual training, where I was working to improve my shooting. I think that this has made me a better player and I hope I will be able to show it with the national team," the player spoke.

What might make the route to the podium at least a little easier for Martinez and Spain, is the fact that almost every other medal contender has suffered losses in personnel either to injuries or other circumstances.

"The missing guys, especially Dzanan Musa, are really good players and would have definitely increased the level of the tournament had they played, but the remaining players that are here in those teams are better than people think," he said.

"All of the teams that are in the FIBA U18 European Championship 2017 are good and it is very hard to predict anything. Everyone can win and everyone can lose. So we will play as hard as we can and try to win. We have trained long and hard for this, competing against each other. I think we’re at a good level and we will be a very competitive team."

Having been limited to playing in one international tournament this summer by his club, Martinez opted to sit out the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2017 in Cairo so he could join his fellow 1999-born teammates compete for a medal in Slovak Republic.

"The club did not want me to play in two competitions in a row and I preferred the FIBA U18 European Championship because I thought we had a better chance of winning here. Not that it would have been impossible at the World Cup, just more difficult," he explained the situation.

As it turned out, Spain were one step short of the podium at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup as well, finishing in fourth place. It cannot just be a coincidence, can it?

FIBA