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Vlahov labels Martin "the greatest"

Vlahov labels Martin "the greatest"

Perth Wildcats legend Andrew Vlahov has labelled Damian Martin the best defensive player the NBL has ever seen after the club captain was today awarded his fifth consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award.

Martin, 30, beat out New Zealand’s Ekene Ibekwe and Townsville Crocodiles centre Mickell Gladness to claim the award for 2014-15, continuing a stretch which dates back to the 2010-11 season.

His five honours draw him level with the NBL record, held by former Adelaide import Darnell Mee.

NBL Hall of Famer Vlahoh presented Martin with the award this morning and was not shy in expressing his admiration for the point-guard’s abilities.

“I believe he’s probably the best defensive player the game’s ever seen,” Vlahov said.

“Darnell Mee was an exceptional athlete but in terms of Australians and the way that he approaches the game, I would probably give him the edge over Darnell.

“I thought Darnell was really special but I’ve just always been impressed with Damo’s work ethic and his approach to the game.

“He always gets the hardest assignments and he doesn’t shirk that responsibility. That’s a great quality of a leader.”

Martin finished the season with a total of 81 steals, his best result in a single season.

His performances in the Wildcats’ 2-0 semifinal series loss to the Cairns Taipans at the weekend also placed him in the competition’s top 10 rebounders.

“This is a nice perk after what’s been a pretty rough week, getting knocked out of the finals,” Martin said.

“It is nice to win five in a row, but in saying that there are a lot of great defenders out there and it could have gone to a handful of other guys.

“It’s nice to see my name written there a few times. You look at the guys who’ve won it, I think I’ve just tied Darnell Mee now and he was one of the all-time great defenders.

“To have my name alongside his is something I’m very proud of.”

He said he looked forward to claiming the record for himself if that was what it took to get the Wildcats back to championship contention next season.

“I’ve got two more years with the Wildcats so ideally if I could win two more and help the team to another couple of championships, that would be great,” he said.