Wildcats legend Damian Martin has described Perth’s Round 17 defeat to Illawarra as a “blip”, and believes the side regressed into bad habits from earlier in the season in the loss.

The Hawks managed to keep star Wildcat Bryce Cotton to just 13 points on 2-12 shooting in their victory, while Perth managed to put up just 77 points as a team.

It was the Wildcats' lowest score of the season and their lowest score at RAC Arena in NBL24.

Perth has since bounced back with a win over South East Melbourne, and Martin believes the loss acted as a timely reminder for the second-placed side.

“I think they fell into the trap of going back into the type of offensive structure where they stood and watched BC (Cotton) too much against Illawarra,” Martin said on SEN WA. “And the coaching from (Justin) Tatum was brilliant.

<iframe src="https://omny.fm/shows/nbl-radio-interviews/damian-martin-on-sen-wa-january-31-2024/embed?style=artwork" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write" width="100%" height="180" frameborder="0" title="Damian Martin on SEN WA - January 31, 2024"></iframe>

“Wani Swaka Lo Buluk pretty much guarded his man and Bryce when he was out there, so going up against two players, the offence was stagnant and it was too much to ask of any one player.

“Over the course of 40 minutes they learned their lesson that they’ve got to continue to move and they’ve got to continue to run. Winning isn’t easy, you’ve got to do the hard work and they’ve done that for the majority of the last two-and-a-half months.

“This was a little blip and I think they’ll be back to their best on Sunday against New Zealand.”

Sunday’s clash against the Breakers will be the Wildcats’ first home game since their defeat to the Hawks, and Martin is set to have his jersey retired by the club following the game against New Zealand.

It’s fitting Martin will be honoured following a clash with the Breakers. The six-time champion faced off against Sunday’s opposition in three Championship Series’ in the 2010s.

Despite all the success he experienced during his playing career, Martin says he’s a “nervous wreck” ahead of the jersey retirement ceremony.

“A couple of days ago I was at RAC and I looked up and I really did just enjoy seeing those names and numbers alongside the banners up in the rafters, I’m really nervous about it and I think I’m really nervous about it, because it means so much to me,” Martin said.

“Rarely do you have these things in life where it’s bigger than anything you ever expected to be a part of, and this is one of them because of how much I adore the club and the memories I had out on that court.

“People try and talk about what I miss most about the game. I miss the last two minutes of every single game, I miss my teammates, but there was a moment before however many times I suited up for the Wildcats, when you’re in the tunnel and your name is called and your number is announced, that feeling of hearing the Red Army can’t be replicated.

“I got goosebumps every single time no matter how old I was.

“That noise as your name is announced when you’re going out to play for the Wildcats, that’s what I miss just as much as anything else.”

The Wildcats will play the Breakers at 4pm AEDT on Sunday, February 4 live on ESPN via Kayo Freebies | 10 Peach and 10 Play | Sky Sport in NZ.