Mike making great strides in big league

The row of chairs on the interview table inside the press room is reserved for the winning coach and the top players of a team after a game.

In all four Alaska games so far in the current Samsung Philippine Basketball Association All-Filipino Cup, Mike Cortez has been a regular guest to the special seats. So much so that after Sunday night’s post-game chat, someone told him to keep up the frequency of his post-game visits to sportswriters.

"So long as we keep on piling the W’s," said Cortez.

So far, there have been four W’s listed beside the Alaska team name. And no L’s to be concerned about. In those last two wins, Cortez found himself right in the middle of things.

Against Ginebra, Cortez sizzled with a career-high 21 points as he finally took the shots he was hesitant about in his first two games as a professional.

"He was pretty aggressive in the past few practices offensively and it showed in the game," said coach Tim Cone.

"I’m slowly learning the basics of the Triangle Offense. There are a lot of things I don’t know but I’m learning everyday," Cortez said.

Still, pass off the warning folks, the league’s No. 1 pick overall this year is starting to warm up.

"Mike is getting better and better every game and he’s starting to get comfortable out there," said Cone.

As if to prove a point, the 5-11 point guard came back against Shell and scored 11 points in the second half as Alaska bucked the lack of rest to hammer out a roll-up-your-sleeves type of win, 85-80, over the Turbo Chargers.

His numbers gave everybody a hint of Cortez’s all-around skills. He had 15 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks. He ended the week of March 3 to 9 as the No. 2 guy in the league in assists (5.8), No. 6 in steals, (1.5) and No. 10 in blocks (1.0).

Small wonder he was named Samsung Player of the Week by the league.

But Cortez is not about to sit on his accomplishments just yet. He still is thinking of expanding his game even more as he grasps the Alaska system.

"What I’ve learned so far are just the basics. There are still a hundred things to understand as far as the Triangle Offense is concerned. I’m just glad the veterans of the team, guys like John Arigo, Don Allado and Ali Peek, are helping me to adjust," Cortez said.

Already, Cortez has emerged to become such a force that he reminds Cone of Johnny Abarrientos, the ex-Alaska guard who quarterbacked the Aces to nine titles in the 90’s.

"He’s like Johnny when Johnny was still new in our team. He is very much concerned about giving his teammates their shots, but every now and then, he has the ability to really surprise you with the things he does," Cone said.

But what he has done is not what holds people in awe. It’s what he has yet to do that has his coach brimming with excitement.

"He’s going to be very, very good in this league. We really haven’t seen yet what he really can do," Cone said.