PIRAEUS (Greece) - You all know by now the Cristiano Ronaldo story from the UEFA Euro 2024 late night drama against Slovenia. The missed penalty, the despair, then the smile at the end after his teammate saved the win.
On a much smaller scale, Corey Webster went on his own hero-to-zero-to-hero path in Greece, albeit without the tears. For years, he was the key ingredient in the Tall Blacks' offense, and for 39 minutes, he looked unstoppable against Croatia.
Then, with the scores tied at 86-all in the final minute of the game, the 35-year-old shooting guard found himself wide open on the left side of the floor. Of course, without hesitation, Webster put up a three-pointer, only to hit the front rim.
He had no time to analyze what went wrong with that shot, because just a split second later the offensive rebound ended up in his hands, for another shot from virtually the same spot. He took a breath, settled down - and missed again.
In a tied game, with 40 seconds left on the clock, especially when you are trying to upset a European juggernaut such as Croatia, nobody remembers you went 3-of-4 in the first 39 minutes. Everybody just remembers you went 0-of-2 for the win.
"We fight to the end. We're always the underdogs, but we always fight."
But some sort of karma was working overtime for New Zealand. Coach Pero Cameron challenged an out-of-bounds call after Webster's second miss, and rumor has it, it was actually Shea Ili who asked for it, because he needed an extra 30 seconds to catch his breath in a chaotic closing sequence.
The challenge proved to be successful, New Zealand got the ball back, and it was Ili who made the game-winning drive against Ivica Zubac for a memorable 90-86 win over Croatia.
The man with the widest smile after the win? Corey Webster, of course. Probably on his way to pay Shea Ili a dinner or two after saving the win.
"For sure, man. I owe him one," Corey laughed out loud.
"Amazing game for us. It's a historic win for New Zealand, they got great players, great NBA players great EuroLeague players, but we're not afraid of anyone, man.
"We fight to the end. We're always the underdogs, but we always fight and I'm just proud of how we came out (against Croatia)."
Cool quote. But... are New Zealand the underdogs nowadays? They have been competitive for some time now, fighting for a place among the top 16 teams in the world in both of the latest editions of the FIBA Basketball World Cup since the format changed.
It was always something, though. A narrow defeat to Brazil in 2019. A narrow defeat to Greece in 2019. Blowing a 10-point lead against the United States in 2023. Blowing a 15-point lead against Greece in 2023.
It all came back now against Croatia, at least until the final couple of minutes. But this time around, New Zealand finally closed out the game.
"Basketball in New Zealand is one of the favorite sports right now, so the growth is there. We always compete against the great teams and sometimes we come short, but (this win) shows the growth," Webster said.
"We finished the game off, all the way to the 40th minute, we played hard. We've got to back it up again [against Slovenia]."
Webster was the missing puzzle piece in this lineup. Guys like Shea Ili, Izayah Le'afa, Reuben Te Rangi, Jordan Ngatai, Finn Delany, Flynn Cameron - they had already showed they've got the talent and the physicality to compete. Now they have their go-to guy to create something from nothing when the offense stalls.
"One of the best players in New Zealand. He's a scoring punch, it's something we've been missing," Te Rangi agrees.
"It's good to have Corey, we know what he can do. It was good that he was able to make some big shots," coach Cameron added in his typical easy-going way.
"I missed the last World Cup for family reasons, so it's great to be back in the black jersey. We're always proud to play for our country, so it's good to be back," Webster said.
The job is far from done. New Zealand could clinch first spot in the group with a win over Luka Doncic and Slovenia.
Even a defeat of up to 9 points would be enough to send them through, but you know Webster and his teammates will not have that mindset now that they've tasted victory against a big name in international basketball.
FIBA