Basketball: Webster named ANBL Player of the Week

Corey Webster
Corey Webster
A dominant 25-point performance on Friday night against Melbourne United has earned New Zealand Breakers guard Corey Webster the ANBL's round seven Player of the Week award.

Webster scored 11 of his 25 points for the night in the first quarter on the back of hitting all three of his attempts from long range.

The sharp-shooter also grabbed five boards in the 80-72 victory at Vector Arena, taking the Breakers to an 8-3 record and securing them the top spot of the ANBL ladder for the first time this season.

On the back of impressive off-season campaigns, the 25-year old is averaging more the 15 points per game this season

"I'm playing fairly consistently. I sort of expected that coming into the role of a starter after having a pretty good World Cup [campaign] and a good season in the New Zealand NBL also, so I was looking forward to the role and I don't think I'm doing too bad, but I can still improve some more," he said.

Webster and the Tall Blacks made the round of 16 at the World Cup in Spain in September before being knocked out by Lithuania. Webster top-scored with 26 points in the 76-71 loss to the European side but credited that experience to his strong start to the ANBL season.

"To go over there and play at that level of basketball against world class players was a great opportunity. I loved every minute of it," he said.

"I've used the confidence I gained playing well there and tried to add it to the ANBL and just tried to stay consistent with that level of play."

The Breakers next host the Sydney Kings on Friday who boast former NBA player Josh Childress in the ranks.

Webster was up for the challenge, and was confident he'd be able to keep up his shooting precision.

"I've told myself I need to be more aggressive, get more open shots and hope they sink," he said.

"Most of the scorers can't really stop shooting, even if you've missed a couple. That's the scoring mentality -- you always think the next shot is going to go in."

- By Daniel Richardson of NZME

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