Andrei Caracut admitted that fatigue is catching up on him, as evidenced by his dwindling play in the ongoing PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup playoffs.
But the Rain or Shine floor general is offering no excuses, saying that it’s all on him to become tougher mentally to play through it.
“Kailangan ko labanan ‘yung pagod,” he said.
“Ramdam ko pero kailangan mentally mas malakas ako. Kasi sunod-sunod din ‘yung laro eh.”
Caracut admitted as much shortly after the Elasto Painters dropped a close game against reigning conference champions San Miguel, 101-98, in their semifinal opener on Friday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
There, he finished with just nine points on 3-of-11 shooting from the floor, marking the second game in a row that he didn’t crack double-digit scoring,
Caracut had previously fired 21 points in their 121-113 win over TNT in Game 2 of their best-of-3 quarters bout.
Then he found himself held to only five points in the deciding Game 3 last Wednesday, although plenty of others stepped up to deliver the 110-109 triumph.
His fatigue was evident in Game 1 of the semis. The 28-year-old had an opportunity to tie the game, but his three-pointer from the top of the key missed with exactly four seconds left to play.
“Para kay Jhonard talaga ‘yun,” Caracut said when asked about the final play. “Pero kanina parang medyo napaaga si Jhonard sa pagpunta sa corner, kaya hindi niya nagamit ‘yung screen. ‘Yun talaga ‘yung play, para kay Jhonard.
“Tapos… nakita ko si Beau, alam ko bukas din ako. Sayang lang ‘yung tira ko. In-expect ko na ipapasa ni Beau pero hindi pumasok.”
Still, the three-year pro out of De La Salle isn’t one to make excuses. Instead, he’s only keen on charging lessons such as this to experience.
“For me, kailangan mag-focus ako mentally,” said Caracut, who’s averaging 11.9 points this conference. “Kasi medyo nagda-down din ‘yung laro ko.”
He hopes, too, that they can grow from Game 1 as a collective and gear up better for the second encounter on Sunday, all of them aiming to equalize.
“Malaking bagay sa amin ‘yung nakadikit kami. Pero ang dami naming mga lapses, ang dami naming free throws na namintis – lalo na ‘ko, naka-tatlo ako,” said Caracut, who went 2-5 from the charity stripe in the loss.
“And in defending June Mar talaga kailangan mas pagtrabahuhan pa kasi ang dami ring score ni June Mar eh. Pero… laban naman.”
Andrei Caracut reveals that the final play in Rain or Shine’s semis game against San Miguel was meant for Jhonard Clarito#PBA2024 pic.twitter.com/JVn4vPewXL
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) May 17, 2024
