By Alex Molina/ amolina@eurohoops.net
Pedro Martínez was both proud and happy after Valencia Basket secured a dramatic Game 5 victory over Panathinaikos to book their place in the Final Four, describing the achievement as “an incredible success for the club.”
The veteran coach refused to engage in controversy surrounding comments from Panathinaikos head coach Ergin Ataman after the series, instead focusing entirely on his team’s accomplishment.
“We are in the Final Four. We are very happy, it’s incredible. A huge success for the club, we are very happy,” Martínez said after the final buzzer.
The veteran coach praised the mentality and evolution of his players throughout the series, highlighting how the team improved game after game against an opponent he openly admitted possessed greater individual talent.
“I’m very proud of the tremendous concentration of the players throughout the entire series, and how we kept improving and adjusting,” Martínez said. “In a very short time, the players adapted to things related to mentality. We played as a team and that gave us a lot throughout the series. Panathinaikos is better than us in terms of roster, one by one their quality is better. But we played very well as a team.”
Martínez singled out Jean Montero as the perfect example of that collective spirit, despite the guard facing intense defensive pressure throughout the decisive game.
“Jean Montero faced a very good defense and despite that, he played with incredible concentration,” he explained. “His first half were the best 20 minutes with Valencia Basket. That happens because he trusts his teammates. It was the day he scored the least and the day he played the best. This is a day that years will pass and we will still remember it.”
Valencia’s reward is now a showdown with Real Madrid Baloncesto and legendary coach Sergio Scariolo for a place in the European final, a meeting that comes 36 years after Martínez first crossed paths with the Italian tactician.
“I have followed his entire career,” Martínez said about Scariolo. “An incredible coach with NBA experience. He has won with national teams and with clubs… maximum admiration.”
Still, the Valencia coach insisted the spotlight should remain on the players rather than the benches.
“But this is not about coaches, fortunately,” he added. “We are a team whose objective was originally the play-in, then we changed the objective to the playoffs, then to the top four and when the playoffs started, we focused on the Final Four. Now the objective is to be competitive against a team like Real Madrid that is giving us a hard time, they are beating us quite easily.”
Martínez also highlighted the emotional connection between the team and the city during the buildup to the decisive game, revealing how deeply the support from supporters had affected him personally. “We handled the pressure well, the team stayed concentrated and the players did a good job,” he said. “I walk around the city a lot and this past week has been incredible because of the amount of people and the excitement I’ve felt from people I don’t even know. It’s something that has moved me emotionally because it tells you we are transmitting something to the people, the members or those who are simply following our journey. Making all those people happy is a very beautiful objective.”
According to Martínez, that unity between fans and players became one of the defining factors behind Valencia’s memorable comeback victory in the series. “This is sport and you can win or lose, but when you have this connection, it is much more difficult to lose,” he said. “The players feel very supported and the atmosphere was sensational. There was a moment when they got back into the game and everybody was completely engaged to help us take one more step. The support from our fans was key.”
The Valencia coach also underlined the importance of securing home-court advantage after fighting back from a 2-0 deficit in the series. “It’s not the same to come back from 2-0 down with home-court advantage than without it,” Martínez explained. “We earned the right to play the fifth game at home. The two games we lost were in overtime, including our worst game, but we still had chances. In Athens we played very well, we should have won more comfortably. We live in the present, day by day.”
For Martínez, however, the biggest key behind Valencia Basket’s historic achievement has been the chemistry inside the locker room. “We have very good team chemistry, it is very important,” he concluded. “How well the players get along, the ones who play more and the ones who play less. The relationship between them helps a lot.”