U.S. experience adds fuel to the fire for Corey Webster

AUCKLAND (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) - Corey Webster keeps getting better on the hardwood.

At the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, he was New Zealand's biggest weapon, averaging a team-high 13.7 points per game as the Tall Blacks made it to the Round of 16.

He then helped fire the New Zealand Breakers to glory in the 2015 Australian National Basketball League.

This summer, although the Tall Blacks came up short against Australia in the FIBA Oceania Championship, the 26-year-old Webster averaged 19ppg.

He then traveled to the United States to try out for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Though he was one of the team's last cuts, Webster clearly gained confidence with the experience.

Since returning home, he has dazzled for the Breakers in wins over Sydney and Cairns.

In that second triumph, a 90-67 hammering of a Taipans outfit that the Breakers swept in two games in the 2015 Finals, Webster had a career-high 35 points.

So what is to be made of his performances?

The answer can be found in what he said immediately after being told by the Pelicans they were not keeping him for this season.

Webster didn't feel sorry for himself but instead stressed the positives of his time in America.

"Can't trade the experience," he said in an interview with Radio New Zealand.

"A whole lot of gasoline for a burning fire.

"The dream lives on."

So in every practice, every game that Webster takes part in, he does so with one eye on making a return to North America.

He believes that his efforts will eventually pay off.

He wants to make it back in the U.S.

"I have had a taste and I have got close enough to know that this is what I want to do," Webster said.

"This is not the end of the journey for me.

"But I will reset my goals and one of them is returning home to the Breakers and having a great season for them.

"I am on the radar of a number of NBA clubs and scouts now and I need to build on this with a great season for the Breakers to help the club and to help achieve my own goals."

Webster will also get a chance to show the scouts what he can do when he puts on the New Zealand Tall Blacks jersey again.

Corey Webster at 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup (NZL)

That will happen at one of next year's three FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

Should the Tall Blacks win, Webster would make the trip to Rio de Janeiro and play at a Summer Games for the first time in his career.

FIBA