Sergi Martínez (22 years, 2.03) will not forget these last days of June 2021. Last Friday he began his first concentration with the senior team and this Monday Barça announced his renewal for three seasons. It is the award for perseverance and the work of a player who has never given up despite the difficult road he has had to travel to get here.
What a week, right? First, the senior team is summoned for the first time and then Barça announces its renewal for three seasons …
Very happy for both. In the end you see that all the effort has its reward. But nothing has been done, you have to keep working.
What does the renewal for Barça mean to you?
It is a dream come true. Since you were little, like every child, you dream of arriving and in the end it has been fulfilled. I am also happy because this for the boys of the quarry is the hope that they can achieve it too.
The previous season he played two games and just seven minutes in the Endesa League, in this almost 400 in 26 games. What a change, right?
Saras was very clear with me at the beginning of the season, she asked me to be a solid player, to give energy, to help in whatever way I could and that’s how it was. I have had to accept my role, to be very focused on each game because both the Endesa League and the Euroleague are super competitive and every little mistake is a big mistake.
Life is moments and you have to take advantage of opportunities
Just a year ago I almost played solely at LEB Plata. Did you ever think that you would never reach the elite?
Life is moments and you have to take advantage of opportunities. I was given the opportunity to make the leap to the first team and I went with everything, I tried to be as professional as possible.
For years the Barça quarry was like a dead end that did not lead anywhere, or at least not to the first team. Didn’t he despair, never thought about leaving?
It was very difficult for players from the quarry to reach the first team, it had been a long time since this happened. I went from year to year, I knew it was not going to be easy. Of course I thought about it, what can happen next year… But there are many paths that are valid, there is not just one that will lead you to success. But the one I was most excited about was getting to the first team, playing at the Palau Blaugrana in front of your people. A player who feels the colors, what more could you ask for? For me, wearing the Barça shirt is a source of pride and being able to do it in the first team is a dream. In the end everything is work. I may not be the most talented player in the world but everything that depends on my effort and my work I am going to do it. I was the first who did not know if it was going to work out but when you make a decision you have to go to the death with her.
And Jasikevicius arrived and everything changed …
In the declarations of my renewal I said it clearly, I thanked Jasikevicius because without him everything that happened this year would not have been possible for me.
Have you talked to him before signing the renewal?
No, because when the last game ended everyone left. I have not agreed with him but I suppose he will ask me again as usual, try to help the team as much as possible and add in everything he can.
I may not be the most talented player in the world but everything that depends on my effort and my work I am going to do it
What will your role be next season? Will it have more prominence?
We will see. When preseason arrives I suppose he will tell me.
If, as it seems, Claver and Hanga end up leaving, there will be many more minutes left in the position of three …
Yes. That is a decision of the club but whatever it is I know that I am going to have to work, in the first team nothing is easy, they do not give it to you. I know that as much as I have renewed for three years the work is not done, I know that I have to work more than ever.
During his formative years it was said that SM was not too tall to play four and that he had little shot to play three… How do you see yourself?
I continue with the same philosophy, that of playing what the coach asks me to do. I am a versatile player, who adapts to different situations, this season I have played as ‘four’ when Nikola (Mirotic) was not there, I have also played as three, I have defended the point guard … Modern basketball is not like before, in which the positions were more defined. Now there are many versatile players. I have no preference, as I have always been changing I am used to it.
What do you have to improve in your game to go to the next level?
If I have to say something, because I have always been dragging him, it is that I have to improve my shot. Many people have told me that I do not have to go crazy with that because it is something that is improving little by little, and also, at times when I have to play as three, also improve the handling of the ball a little. All this I have in mind. I am 22 years old and I still have a lot to work on and improve.
Seeing you with players of the caliber of Marc, Pau, Ricky, Llull, Rudy … all this for me is also a dream, they were idols that I saw playing on TV and now Ricky is the one who gives me the assists
Were you surprised by Scariolo’s call? As was?
The truth is that I did not expect it at all in the world. But I am very happy. When I arrived I was very nervous, seeing you with players of the caliber of Marc, Pau, Ricky, Llull, Rudy … all this for me is also a dream, they were idols that I saw playing on TV and now Ricky is the one who gives me the assists , who helps me, who gives me advice. From watching them play on TV to sharing a dressing room, court and hotel with them, it makes me think that there is nothing impossible in life and you have to fight for the dreams you have. It is an experience that I will never forget.
What is your objective in this first call with the national team?
Learn as much as possible, try to adapt as much as possible to the group and above all enjoy, which is fundamental in basketball. And more in a group of people like this, in which there is super good vibes. Now I understand why they are called ‘The Family’, they are a group of spectacular players both on and off the court.
Now I understand why they are called ‘The Family’, it is a group of spectacular players both on and off the court
How have you been received?
Good very good. I feel like I’ve been here for a long time, Super good.
Being in Tokyo seems like an impossible dream for you …
The important thing is to be here, I have come to do my job, to try to help this group as much as I can. I am happy to be here and to be able to spend this time with the national team.
Have you already paid for the tuition dinner with Garuba?
No, we have not done it yet because Pierre (Oriola) has not yet rejoined, he has little left. But I’m already getting ready, they’ve already told me to remove the card limit. The luck is that there are five of us because both Xabi (López-Arostegui), Brizuela and Alocén also pay because it does not count that they were in the windows. You will have to pay, but nothing happens, I will pay it very at ease.
Finally, a wish for the next season.
Win the maximum possible titles with Barça.