The Otago Nuggets captain poured in 40 points during his side’s 96-85 loss to the Canterbury Rams in Christchurch on Thursday night.
He held a misfiring offence together and will be a key figure when the Nuggets look to snap a three-game losing streak when they host the Nelson Giants at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin tomorrow.
It was a good response from Webster, who has spent some time on the naughty step this season.
He was banned for one game following some foul play in the win against the Wellington Saints and he picked up two technical fouls in the loss to the Rams in Dunedin.
But rumours he was hoping to move to a new team during the NBL’s transfer window later this month have proven baseless.
A Sky Sport commentator suggested Webster had asked to be transferred. But Nuggets general manager Angela Ruske confirmed Webster had not requested to be transferred and was at a loss as to where the rumour had come from.
That is good news for the Nuggets because he was in electric form.
Only 12 players have scored 40 or more points for the Nuggets.
American import Akeem Wright was the last player to hit 40 for the Nuggets when he achieved the milestone against Harbour in 2012.
Leonard King posted five scores of 40 or more for the Nuggets, but Glen Denham holds the scoring record with a 50-point game against Harbour in 1993.
Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere said you could tell during the week Webster was up for the game.
"He had that air about him. He wanted to come in and put things right," Matehaere said.
"The thing is he did it from 25 shots, so it is not like he shot the ball every possession. I think he shot 70% from the floor, so that’s elite.
"And that is the Tai Webster we know that he can be. We just hope we get that kind of stuff out of him for the next game and the next game after that and so on and so on."
Despite Webster’s effort, the Nuggets were well beaten.
"We tried to fight our way back into it but they answered every challenge we put up," he said.
"We got ourselves in the hunt a couple of times, but then tried to hit home runs and that isn’t working for us at the moment."
The rebounding is not working either. The Rams won the battle of the boards 52-32.
The Nuggets did do a better job guarding Australian centre Lachlan Olbrich and kept MJ Walker to just 18 points.
And illness swept through the Nuggets’ camp during the week, so it was not a performance indicative of where the side is at.
But they have strung together three losses and that is not the trajectory they want to be on.
Matehaere wants his team to take more individual ownership of the defensive effort.
"There was certainly some challenges in terms of the personnel the Rams had. They have some decent basketball players.
"Jack did a good job on Lachie Olbrich and we kept MJ to 18 ... but we needed to make sure the others didn’t get going like they did."
The Giants played the Southland Sharks last night and Matehaere planned to watch carefully so he could plot their demise in tomorrow’s fixture.
NBL
Dunedin, Sunday, 3pm
Otago Nuggets (possible): Tai Webster, Ben Henshall, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly, Kimani Lawrence, Jack Andrew, Robbie Coman, Darcy Knox, Matthew Bardsley, Josh Aitcheson, Caleb Smiler, Benji Freeman, Matthew Pyper.
Nelson Giants (possible): Alexander McNaught, Kobe Langley, Chijioke Akwuba, Danil Grida, Dan Fotu, Tom Ingham, Sam Dempster, Ernest Kerr, Hayden Jones, Aston Inwood, Nicholas Davidson, James Matthews.
Games of 40+ points for the Nuggets
50 — Glen Denham v Harbour (1993)
48 — Leonard King v Hawks (1993)
46 — King v Palmerston North (1995)
45 — King v Waitakere (1995)
43 — Tyrone Black v Auckland (1990)
42 — Phill Jones v Auckland (1999)
42 — Branduinn Fullove v Manawatu (2006) *3OT
41 — Ron Grady v Hawks (2002)
41 — Donell Morgan v Canterbury (1998)
41 — Horace Burton v Saints (1992)
40 — Tai Webster v Rams, (2024)
40 — Akeem Wright v Harbour (2012)
40 — Lemar Gayle v Pistons (2008)
40 — Mikes Pegues v Harbour (2003)
40 — King v Saints (1993)
40 — King v Lakers (1991)
