Basketball: Webster courts playing time against United

The Breakers will be aiming for a better defensive effort than they showed in Friday's defeat to the Hawks. Photo / Getty Images

Taking a three-game losing streak across the Tasman, it seemed a straightforward decision for the Breakers to welcome back last season's leading scorer.

Of course, when that player has an imminent court date after earlier in the week being arrested for assault, it was fair to ask the question: Was Corey Webster going to play against Melbourne United this afternoon?

"I had a good chat with Corey," said Breakers coach Paul Henare. "I wanted to put the ball in his court, so to speak, and see if Corey could come to me confidently and say, 'Yep, I can be there'.

"And he said, 'I want to be with the team tomorrow and go play and help the team'. I trust in him that he's doing the right thing by the team."

The Breakers could certainly use a player of Webster's calibre. After Friday night's loss to Illawarra dropped the Kiwi club into the bottom half of the Australian NBL, their problems extend beyond their shooting guard's legal issues.

Only once in the previous five seasons did the Breakers fall outside the league's top three in defence, and only once did they concede an average of more than 81 points per game: the 2013-14 campaign, which was also the solitary occasion in that five-year stretch the Breakers failed to make the playoffs.

So the state of this year's defence - currently second-worst in the competition with 87.2 points allowed - should be especially troubling to Henare and co.

As should the trend of being particularly porous in the first 20 minutes of games: during their three-game losing streak, the Breakers are shipping an average of 55 points before halftime, putting them too far behind before the inevitable fightback arrives.

It's no wonder Henare was openly considering making a change, either in personnel or system, to spark his team into finding more defensive stops in the first half of games. If nothing else, Webster's return from suspension means the coach once again has his full roster available and can adjust accordingly.

"We've had guys in and out over the last couple of weeks, so we've got our depth back in our guard line-up especially," Henare said. "So it's going to be about guys playing at the required intensity, especially at the defensive end.

"We'll be able to hold guys accountable there, and if they're not getting the job done, we've got bodies who can come in and do the same thing [do better]."