PERTH (NBL) - There is a saying often heard in the sports world that "defense wins championships".

The presence of Damian Martin, arguably the best defender ever to play in the NBL, sure made a difference last season for the Perth Wildcats when they captured the title.

While the 1.86m guard has never logged enough minutes with Australia's national team to put up eye-popping statistics, he gets plenty of action in the NBL and the last time out against the Sydney Kings, he had one of his finest-ever defensive performances with nine steals.

Perth won the game 84-63.

"He was outstanding," said Perth coach Trevor Gleeson.

"He is our engine room and as soon as he's up and going, and putting pressure on the ball it gets the other team out of their offense and out of sync.

"He gives us points on the defensive end and if you could somehow score points that way, he would have a lot. The rest of the team took over from what he was showing on the court and that's great, positive leadership out there and the guys followed."

Martin, Perth's captain, has been NBL Defensive Player of the Year the last four seasons.

He is now leading the league with an average of four steals per game.

The 30-year-old brings a real spark to the team by playing terrific defense, but he has a lot of help.

Martin explained that his teammates put him in position to come up with many of his steals in the win over Sydney.

"I get spoiled because I've got Jesse (Wagstaff) and Shawn (Redhage) who come and pressure the basketball with me so a lot of the credit deserves to go to those guys even though I get the steals," he said.

There have been a lot of good defenders over the years in the NBL, but Gleeson believes Martin is in a class by himself.

"Without question, he is the best defender I've seen in the NBL," he said.

Martin will be back in action on Friday when Perth take on the Wollongong Hawks.

FIBA