The head coach of Baloncesto Fuenlabrada has achieved something far more important this season than a trophy
This season has been a roller coaster for Flexicar Fuenlabrada. A campaign marked by several ups and downs in which, despite competing in everything, the team failed to win any trophy. However, the team's objective has been more than achieved—and realistically, it was never just about staying in the league, but about stability and getting fans to reconnect with the team. This has been accomplished, and if it has been, it's thanks to a cornerstone of the project: Iñaki Martín. The head coach has managed to win the hearts of fans who have visited the Fernando Martín this season.
The challenge was enormous. This past summer the club came with a serious problem following unpaid wages owed to players from last season. The problems were so severe that from the outside there was a certain uncertainty about the viability of the project despite the words of "Calm" from Borja Rúperez, CEO of Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, in the video released after the Final Four elimination. But the worst was yet to come. Due to this uncertainty, building a roster during the summer was not easy. This arduous task began with Iñaki Martín, a "rookie" head coach in the category who, despite his brief stint in Valladolid, kept them in the league. Despite this, three games from the end he was fired and was a coach who finished last season without a team.
Together with Eduardo Pascual, the sporting director of Baloncesto Fuenlabrada, the Donostia-born coach was able to assemble a great roster with very surprising names, such as Vítor Benite. Although this wasn't finalized until practically the first game. The coach described the work done with the Sporting Director in an interview at the start of the season: "building a roster from scratch is very annoying at the level we did it, but having him as sporting director makes things much easier, let that be clear." Despite Iñaki Martín arriving at an unstable project, the coach stabilizes it.
The result translated to the court: a perfect start in October with a 4-0 record at the beginning of the season. This great start also served for Iñaki to receive the award for best Primera FEB head coach of the month, given by the AEEB. This great start and these merits were important, but the most important thing happened in the stands. The Fernando Martín fans went from fearing for the viability of the project and being disappointed by the presumed poor season of the team to being connected from minute one, supporting the players even more and regaining confidence and excitement.
Not everything was going to be like fairy tales. After this great initial streak, Baloncesto Fuenlabrada was going to suffer the first slump, going from a perfect record to losing four consecutive league games, including the derby against Movistar Estudiantes. This slump brought several absences: Alex Murphy, who left due to personal issues, and Cameron Martin abandoned the project after a stint without "rhyme or reason" in which his commitment to the club was questioned after missing several games due to "physical discomfort" despite having medical clearance. Reinforcements also arrived: Alex Renfroe, Brooks DeBisschops, and Iván Aurrecoechea. However, until they integrated into the team's dynamics with their teammates, the team accumulated six consecutive losses. These new arrivals gave the team much-needed air and they bounced back, however, they also added complexity: integrating the players into the team's schemes and reworking those schemes to maximize the potential of these new additions. Once again, Iñaki Martín solved these complexities and brought a smile back to the Fernando Martín in the matchup against Súper Agropal Palencia.
Victories returned, even reaching the Copa España Final Four, a team in great form. Iván Aurrecoechea was the star after arriving at a difficult personal moment for the player, which he himself described as follows: "A broken kid arrived at Fuenlabrada and here they gave me life, they resurrected me." The waters calmed down in Fuenlabrada again, and it was all thanks to the captain of the ship: Iñaki Martín. But, as we said before, this is not a fairy tale and basketball is capricious. The one who was the team's superstar had to say goodbye after two brief months to compete with the Spanish 3x3 basketball national team. Without Iván Aurrecoechea, Iñaki Martín's team sank into another streak of four losses. Despite this, the main objective defended by the board: staying in the league, had already been achieved three months before the regular season ended.
With this objective achieved, the next goal came: reaching the playoffs. Baloncesto Fuenlabrada reinforced itself with Prince Ali and Augusto Lima before the transfer window closed. The arrival of both players meant another change in the game system. Once again, Iñaki Martín managed to integrate them perfectly into the team's dynamics and maximize their talent. Especially with Prince Ali, a player who for several seasons had not shown consistency or his best level and who in Fuenlabrada has managed to do so again. With all this, what was unthinkable at the start of the season was achieved: the playoffs. The challenge was not easy, it required the best level from the players, but a streak of five consecutive victories in the last month of the season made it possible. This winning streak again earned Iñaki Martín the award for best Primera FEB head coach of the month in the eyes of the AEEB, the second award for the coach to close a regular season where there were complications and rough waters, but where the captain of the ship always kept the helm steady.
Despite the individual recognition of the coach, Iñaki Martín took advantage of the last press conference of the season to thank his staff and his players for the entire season, stating that without them it would not have been possible. "First of all, and that's why I've called you here, (...) I want to thank all those guys I have there. Obviously the ones with the orange ball are the main artists, they are the players, but I believe that without this great coaching staff that helps me (...) we would not have reached an objective that was really unthinkable in the summer. So thank you very much to the assistant coaches, Borja González de Mendoza and David Gallego, delegate Dani Valero, the strength and conditioning coach, without him we wouldn't be competing as well as we are Javi Rubio, with brutal experience, and then our physio Fran Ponce," the coach acknowledged at the press conference after beating Cartagena.
The final streak excited the Fuenlabrada fans. The season of Iñaki Martín and many of the players under his command made them believe that they could pull off the upset and reach the Final Four in Coruña. However, basketball did not take pity on the team despite the bad luck during the season and devastating news arrived: Vítor Benite was injured. The team's star could not play the first two games in Palencia where Fuenlabrada suffered and went 0-2 to the Fernando Martín.
At home, the Brazilian was able to suit up again, with evident discomfort, but he played and was key to tying the series 2-2. The series went to a fifth game. The fans were euphoric. After the last home victory, the Fernando Martín chanted at the top of their lungs: "¡Iñaki, Iñaki!" praising and recognizing the architect of this great season. Rarely had a coach generated such a quick connection with the Fernando Martín crowd. The chant of '¡Iñaki, Iñaki!' after the fourth game of the series against Palencia was probably the image that best sums up the season.
The fifth game in Palencia could not be won, the legs were heavy, Benite had many discomforts and they could not put a perfect finish to the team's season. However, the feeling among fans was not bad. People were not sad. People were upbeat and happy. How can it be that fans who care so much about their team did not feel sadness after being eliminated?
The answer is simple: Fuenlabrada fans were happy because all those criticisms, doubts, uncertainties from last season and a very complicated summer had been left behind. Baloncesto Fuenlabrada had recovered, the Fernando Martín was smiling again and they did so thanks to a great season from the players, but a season that cannot be understood without the captain of the ship: Iñaki Martín.
The coach has known how to overcome all the difficulties of the summer and the season, which have been many. The future of the team looks promising, and it seems that the idea that the fans and board so desire of a long-term project can be achieved. Therefore, it is incomprehensible that the club has still not announced the renewal of Iñaki Martín or any of the team's players, who perhaps are waiting for their coach's renewal to renew with the team or, otherwise, explore other options. Because, in the end, Iñaki Martín has conquered something above any trophy: he has conquered the hearts of Fuenlabrada fans by making the Fernando Martín believe again.