On the prowl

Still COOL like that

When Mike Cortez first took the country by storm as a high-socks wearing, crossover wielding 6"0 point guard for the mighty De La Salle University Green Archers in the UAAP, expectations of him being the next "great Filipino point guard" became rampant.

Near triple doubles were the norm, as Cortez would make the game look easy for himself and his teammates on a daily (nay, yearly) basis. He would slice into the lane when the opportunity is presented him (finishing with his trademark "jump straight up, ball palmed on his overly extended right arm *hand*, wait for the contact before laying it in" move) or would simply look for his scorers Ren Ren Ritualo and MacMac Cardona on the wings for the easy deuce.

Sadly, controversies and injuries soon followed and brought Cortez' level of play down to mediocrity. We would see flashes here and there, but he never played with the same consistency as before. He has suited up for Alaska, San Miguel, Air21/Burger King and Ginebra and in all of those stops-- we've probably seen a "Cool Cat" stretch of consistency at most in maybe three to four games. Never enough to really challenge the work put in by rival and draft-mate Jimmy "Mighty Mouse" Alapag, college rival L.A. Tenorio or combo guards Jayjay Helterbrand, Sol Mercado and even Alex Cabagnot.

That all changed however, when Cortez was reunited with college coach Franz Pumaren over at the Air21 Express camp where you could say that "sins were forgiven." Both Coach Franz and Cortez had a "falling out" of sorts years back but time appears to have healed all wounds with the latter playing his "best" basketball to date.

The numbers remain the same with Cortez averaging 12 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in two games played this Commissioner's Cup (his career averages from 2003 to 2012 are 10 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists a game more or less) but it's the impact on the floor and the minutes he is being given that cannot be overlooked. The Express play better and look more competitive with Cortez orchestrating on the floor, covering up their lack of a legit one-on-one player. This is the guy who makes Nino Canaleta look like this season's Jeffrei Chan, with all the wide open kick-out passes being given the sweet-shooting big man. Not to say that Canaleta can't get buckets on his own, but life is a lot easier with Cortez doing all the ball handling and Canaleta (and from time to time, Ritualo) just picking out spots on the floor.

Truly, if you take a closer look at the stats this conference (we know it's still early but just hear us out on this), Mercado is arguably the best point guard right now with all his kamikaze drive and kick plays. Behind him? That would be the pass-first Cortez. Jayson Castro, Alapag and Ryan Reyes are all in a post-title rut over at Talk 'n' Text, Tenorio seems to have forgotten how to shoot the basketball and Helterbrand is nearing the end of his illustrious PBA career despite the improved bump in minutes.

With a power forward-center import driven conference, look to Cortez to continue delivering the goods for the Express and shine as one of the league's elite point guards.

On a sentimental note, it's just damn good too see Cortez come up with vintage performances. He's only 32-33 so there's still two to three good years left in the tank. Hopefully, this renewed partnership with Coach Franz bears fruit before it's all said and done.