Webster must give it his best shot
If the Tall Blacks are to have any hope of flipping the basketball world on its head one more time, and snatching a spot in Rio, they need Corey Webster to get his stroke back.
The formula is a little more complex, but certainly Webster shapes as the key individual for Paul Henare’s New Zealand men’s basketballers as they look to slip into the Games via the Olympic qualifying tournament in Manila from July 4-10.
For the Tall Blacks to make it out of a tricky pool alongside France and hosts the Philippines, and then win the semifinal and final to make it to the Olympic mountaintop, they’ll almost certainly need their best player doing what he does best.
So far the signs are promising as the Tall Blacks immerse themselves in a thorough buildup. Webster was thriving on being paired back with younger brother Tai in the starting backcourt as the New Zealanders ran up three straight victories to open the international tournament in Suzhou, China.
Coach Paul Henare says it’s important they get their premier scorer back in his groove by the time Manila rolls round. They head to Latvia and Lithuania after this to complete preparations.
‘‘I do believe Corey was a much better player this time last year, so for us as a coaching staff, and him as a Tall Black, he has to find a way to get himself back to that level,’’ Henare said. ‘‘We were running some really good stuff [last year] and Corey was a huge part of that.’’
Over the latter part of the Aussie NBL and subsequent short stints in Greece and then back in the New Zealand NBL, Webster lost his shooting mojo. In the Breakers’ playoff run that saw them eventually beaten by the Perth Wildcats in the grand final, Webster went 21 of 77 (28.5 per cent) from the floor and six of 26 (23 per cent) from beyond the arc. For a man of his class, those were low numbers.
In his two Greek league games for Koroivos, Webster went seven of 33 from the floor and three of 17 from deep, and back in the Kiwi NBL (where he averaged 23.5 stuff.co.nz points at a 44 per cent clip) his shooting again dipped in the finals, where he went nine of 24 in the semi and four of 18 in the final for the Supercity Rangers.
But Webster was confident he could hit Manila in form and give this thing a real shot with a Tall Blacks group down on size but not ambition. ‘‘I’ll be getting a lot of shooting practice in while we’re away and we’ll get it right for when it really counts,’’ he said.
Webster was rapt to be back playing with his Nebraska-based brother again − a scenario that appears to be bringing the best out in both on tour. They have combined for 30, 30 and 29 points in the Tall Blacks’ victories over Belarus, Japan and China in Suzhou.
‘‘It’s good to have the little bro back in the team, it’s been a while since we played together. It’s interesting to see how much he’s improved,’’ he said.
Webster’s innate belief is also important for these Tall Blacks.
‘‘We’ve got nothing to lose,’’ he said. ‘‘In the basketball world we’re small, but we always step up to the challenge. Us older guys are going to have to lead the way and help build that confidence.’’