Corey Webster Passes Fitness Test, Will Play Against 36ers Tonight

Tai Webster describes his talented brother as the best Shooting Guard New Zealand has ever produced and tonight, Corey Webster returns to the Sky Sport Breakers for their second clash against the 36ers in Adelaide in five days. 
  
Corey Webster infamously put a knife through his hand at Christmas time, severing a nerve and requiring immediate surgery, forcing him into four weeks of intense rehab. 
  
Webster has missed only one NBL game in a remarkable recovery and is likely to play extended minutes with the Breakers seeking revenge for a nail biting 94-91 opening night loss to the 36ers last Friday. 
  
“I’m ready to go, man. I’m good, feeling good, haven’t had any pain, so I’m good for the game,” a confident Webster says. 
  
“I could play the whole game. I’ve been doing a lot of running, a lot of training since I hurt my hand so I could play as many minutes as Dan wants me to, if he wanted me to play the whole game, then I could for sure.” 
  
It is a significant boost for Head Coach Shamir, who appears to have developed a special bond with Corey. 
  
The 32-year-old averaged 19.5 points a game in just 11 outings under Shamir last season before being granted a mid-season release to play in Italy. 
  
“I feel like I have known Corey for a long time and I don’t know why,” says Shamir. 
  
“We’ve spent a lot of time in the last year and a half together obviously; it feels like we’ve been through a lot last year because it wasn’t a good time for the team.  We had a lot of injuries, we were shorthanded, and we went out for a war together. That’s what it feels like.”   
  
Shamir says he has no doubt Webster could play extended minutes because he has been a model professional in working himself back to fitness again. 
  
“He’s capable of playing big minutes. That’s just how Corey is; he had a hand injury; it wasn’t anything else that limited him physically so he stayed ready.  He still has to be a little bit careful with his hand not to hyperextend it. I’m sure he will protect his left hand so he can give us a lot.” 
  
It will be the first time the Webster brothers have taken to the court together since the FIBA World Cup in China two years ago, where Corey was an international superstar averaging 25.5 points a game. 
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They last played at club level together 8-years ago when Tai Webster was a development player for the Breakers. 
  
Kid brother Tai is earning plaudits for his 34-point haul in the game last Friday, but he also had to take a record 31 shots as the Breakers appeared to lack offensive power. 
  
He admits his older brother’s return will take a lot of pressure off him tonight. 
  
“To me, Corey’s the best player ever in New Zealand.  I don’t think he gets the shine he deserves.   A lot of people haven’t done the things that he’s done, especially on the world stage, put up the buckets, you know that’s the elite of the elite, there’s no one else in New Zealand (like Corey), maybe Kirk Penney, it’s a very select few who have done what he’s done.” 
  
Coach Shamir says the fans and the 36ers can expect a vastly different Breakers outfit taking to the court compared to the one which fronted last Friday. 
  
“When you see Corey Webster on the floor and together with Tai and Lamar and Tom Abercrombie and Finn, it changes things.  The chemistry Tai and Corey have together is something that, if we can use it to our benefit, is unique.” 
 
The Sky Sport Breakers versus the 36ers from Adelaide tips off at 9:30 pm tonight and can be seen exclusively live on Sky Sport 4.