MANILA, Philippines – San Miguel Beer has even more justification to obey coach Jorge Gallent’s instruction.

When the PBA Governors’ Cup quarter finals matchup between the Converge FiberXers and the Beermen begins on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Converge FiberXers will undoubtedly be armed with double-edged weapons, so the Beermen must play with what Gallent called “pride” in their defense.

SMB would have a twice-to-beat edge over the seventh-ranked Converge in the best-of-three matchup scheduled for 4:30 p.m. because they entered the last eight at No. 2.

The Beermen finished the eliminations with back-to-back victories, while the FiberXers have had a three-game losing streak, which should further stack the odds in their favor.

Gallent insisted that his players have to “be good in our individual defense, to have pride in it,” if they wanted to help their team advance in the playoffs and not just rely on their lauded attack.

San Miguel Beer has even more reason to heed coach Jorge Gallent’s instruction.

When the PBA Governors’ Cup quarter finals matchup between the Converge FiberXers and the Beermen begins on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the Converge FiberXers will undoubtedly be armed with double-edged weapons, so the Beermen must play with what Gallent called “pride” in their defense.

SMB would have a twice-to-beat edge over Converge in their best-of-three matchup at 4:30 p.m. because they entered the last eight in second place.

The Beermen finished the eliminations with back-to-back victories, while the FiberXers have had a three-game losing streak, which should further stack the odds in their favor.

Gallent insisted that his players have to “be good in our individual defense, to have pride in it,” if they wanted to help their team advance in the playoffs and not just rely on their lauded attack.

Vodanovich, a 28-year-old player for the New Zealand national team, developed his skills at James Madison University in the US NCAA as well as in the professional leagues in both his own country and Australia.

Scouts have referred to Vodanovich as “a solid all-around player,” and his 20 points in the Tall Blacks’ 88 to 63 victory over Gilas Philippines in a Fiba World Cup Asian qualifier at the same Big Dome in February of last year seem to support this. We’ll have to wait and see if he easily fits Ayo’s method.