Dynamic Duo 'odds on underdogs'

MELBOURNE (The View from Downunder ) - When the Perth Wildcats step onto the North Shore Events Centre floor on Wednesday night for game three of their epic semi final series against the New Zealand Breakers, a lot will depend on the efforts of Damian Martin and Matt Knight.

And while the pressure of a knock out semi final, the super talented Breakers line-up and 4000 raucous Kiwi fans will be immense, you can bet this duo won't have any fear. You see they've been there before, standing side by side, facing unlikely odds and coming up trumps.

It's July 16 2003 and the last day of quarter final action at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Thessaloniki, Greece is about to kick off.

The Australian team had a strong preliminary round, defeating Turkey, Argentina and Korea, then moving to the quarter final round and beating Puerto Rico before falling to a very strong Lithuanian team, who were led by 30 points from Linas Kleiza.

That loss appeared to be crucial, setting up a menacing must-win clash with the USA - who had beaten the Lithuanians 87-84 in a classic - if the Emus were to progress to the final four. While Kleiza had scored 28 points in that game, he was eclipsed by an amazing 47 points on 9/15 three-point shooting, along with 6 assists and 6 steals from Daniel 'Dee' Brown.

The USA had a few other handy players too, including Brown's college running mate Deron Williams, and heading into their last quarter final game undefeated they were expected to take care of the plucky Australian team without too much fuss.

As the clock ticked down to game time, 4:45pm, standing together were Martin and Knight, staring down a task few thought them capable of. Two hours later the job was done, the Americans defeated 106-85 in one of Australian basketball's great moments. Aaron Bruce had 25 points and Andrew Bogut 18 boards.

Damian Martin was Damian Martin, full of hustle and relentless energy. He scored 10 points on 4/4 shooting, pulled in 3 rebounds, handed out 2 assists and led the defensive effort that kept Brown to 14 points on 2/9 shooting and Williams to 8 points on 3/8 shooting.

Matthew Knight was sublime. Thirteen points on 5/8 shooting, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Most importantly the team was in the semi finals, where they outlasted a determined Croatia 97-84, setting up a rematch with Kleiza and Lithuania.

Where a close tussle was expected in the final, Rob Beveridge's Emus blew the Europeans off the court to claim gold, winning 126-92 behind relentless, pressure team defence and 30 points from Steven Markovic.

Martin put together an all-around stat line many NBL fans would be familiar with - 6 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals - while Knight's 17 points on 8/10 need no descriptives.

Of course, the bond between Martin and Knight started before this and has lasted far beyond. Having both grown up playing basketball as if it were a code of football, they met playing against each other in national junior championships.

Asked if he dominated in juniors in Tasmania, Knight grinned. "The game was (played) more like footy (Aussie rules football)! No one really knew much about basketball back then, so I was the only one big enough to dominate!" he said.

It was a similar story for Martin in New South Wales' Hunter Valley. "I loved my rugby league. I actually gave up basketball to play rugby league because my basketball team folded. I was all about league but eventually basketball won over."

Following their time together at the AIS and their FIBA U19 World Championship success, they both headed to Loyola Marymount University. They both loved the experience. "I signed and then he signed because he just wanted to follow me!" Martin laughed.

"No, the campus was just so beautiful, I fell in love with it straight away and Matty was pretty much the same. It was four of the best years of my life, I'd tell anyone who was 17 or 18 to go and experience it.

"We still reminisce about some of the stories, the good old days! Basketball was pretty much the biggest sport so everyone followed us," Martin added, hinting at fun times off the basketball court.

Knight was more to the point. "The (Australian) accent definitely helped, it definitely helped! Ive never said g'day so many times in my life!"

On court, Knight led the team in scoring and rebounding and was named in the West Coast Conference (WCC) All First team in 2007. Martin was named to the 2004 WCC All-Freshman Team, just the second freshman in school history to do so.

The pair then reunited under coach Beveridge at the West Sydney Razorbacks, and once again at the Perth Wildcats this season.

In between they had a couple of great experiences down their own paths, Knight spending a year playing for Soproni in the Hungarian league. There were some good times had. When I asked what it was like on and off the court, Martin piped in "Tell him everything that happened off court!"

Knight grinned, blushed, but played a straight bat. "On the court was an interesting experience, more the half court, walk it up, methodical. And then there was the language barrier as well, with a coach who didn't speak very good English.

"Off the court I really struggled, -20 degrees for four months. I had Bevo calling me telling me it was 40 degrees in Perth! It was a good experience, I'm glad I did it but very glad to be back in Australia," he said.

Martin also headed to Europe, but as a part of the Australian Boomers team for the FIBA World Championship in Turkey. "It actually took me a while to feel like I should have been on the team. But once you get on the court and realise you can play at that level you start to get a bit of confidence.

"You get to learn about a whole lot of different styles of game, learning the different focus on skill development they have over in Europe. The lead-up was great, just training with the best players in Australia every day," Martin said.

"But once you're over there you realise just how even the playing level is, if you have a good day you can beat an Argentina or Serbia, but if you have a bad day you can lose by 20-odd points."

He is in no doubt it has helped his play in the NBL, and is equally sure the domestic competition helped get him ready for the biggest stage. "You play against a guy like CJ Bruton who's been the best point guard in Australia for the best part of ten years. Every time you match up on a guy like him you do want to challenge yourself because he's been on the international stage and been a very good player on the international stage.

"Playing week in week out against players of that quality with how strong the NBL is now is a great stepping stone if you want to play international basketball."

And it is CJ Bruton, along with Kirk Penney, Kevin Braswell, Mika Vukona, Tom Abercrombie and co who stand in the way of a return to the NBL decider for Martin, and a first grand final for Knight.

Though they are once more against the odds, as they were in Thessaloniki eight years ago, no one will be surprised if this duo lead Perth to victory in Auckland. Since Knight returned from his calf injury he and Martin have stood tall to right a season that looked like falling apart following captain Shawn Redhage's injury.

In those six games Knight has averaged 16 points and 7 rebounds, Martin 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, shooting the perimeter from at 37%. As they have all through their careers, they have been the rocks that Rob Beveridge has built upon.

While their eyes are completely on the NBL title at the moment, longer term they hope that they can continue their run of success together in a Boomers singlet.

"I am 26 but I still think I'm 17," Martin laughed. "It's funny thinking back over all those milestones, and Matty's been there all of the way. He's always been the better player and he still is now, and I am sure it won't be long before he's playing for the Boomers."

Given what they have already achieved as teammates, could you really doubt that it will be too long before they are side by side in Boomers green and gold, staring down more fancied opponents once again?

Paulo KENNEDY