BY: REYNALD MAGALLON
Andrei Caracut delivered an inspired performance amid social media talks romantically linking him to volleyball star Bella Belen as he helped steer Rain or Shine to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
In front of a good-sized Friday crowd at the Ynares Center-Antipolo that included Belen, Caracut rifled in 29 points spiked by six triples and a four-ball to play a key role in the Elasto Painters’ 113-104 clincher over the mighty Beermen.
With this quick dispatching of No. 6 SMB, the No. 3 ROS squad returned to the Final Four after getting stranded in the quarterfinals in the preceding Philippine Cup.
With reigning All-Filipino kingpin SMB fighting back from as many as 12 down and threatening to steal the W, Caracut rose to the occasion and shot 12 in the final canto to restore order.
His booming four-point bomb at the 3:07 mark of the fourth ignited a 12-7 closing barrage that sealed the deal.
For his brilliance, Caracut unanimously earned the nod as the PBA Press Corps’ Player of the Week for May 13 to 16.
He beat the likes of TNT’s RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana, who both stepped up in enabling the eighth-seeded defending champions to beat No. 1 NLEX twice for a semis berth, and Meralco’s Chris Newsome, who was instrumental in sending the Bolts through in their hard-earned 105-102 overtime win over tough Magnolia in the quarterfinal rubbermatch.
After his exploits against SMB, Caracut got a lot of ribbing for playing inspired ball with Belen in the arena.
“Inspired lang ako kasi syempre yung nagtatrabaho yung mga teammates ko, nakikita ko sila kung paano sila magtrabaho. Nakaka-inspire na ipanalo ‘yung game,” he said, apparently playing coy about what netizens tagged as “BellDrei” love team.
“Tama ba yung sagot? Saka ‘yung girlfriend ng mga teammates ko nagsusuporta kaya nakaka-inspire po,” he went on.
