Making it to the 2012 London Olympics is a tall order, but with a solid program, hard work, and sheer determination, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) believes it can be done.

SBP executive director Noli Eala and Serbian mentor Rajko Toroman, project director for Smart-Gilas national developmental pool yesterday expressed confidence they can achieve their goal.

“I’ll take my experience watching a lot of (international) games. It’s going be tough. To be realistic, it’s not a shoo-in or a matter of just showing up and we’ll win the slot,” Eala said in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Shakey’s U.N. Ave. branch.

“The competition is strong. It’s very difficult for us to tell our chance. But I think in one and a half year, we’ll be competitive,” added Toroman.

The Smart-Gilas is composed of collegiate stalwarts tabbed by the amateur basketball federation to form the developmental pool from where Toroman will select the composition of the RP Team that will compete in the Asian Games next year in Guangzhou, China.

That team will also compete in the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship, the 2012 London Olympics qualifying tournament which the SBP is hoping to host.

Eala said the case of Iran – now a basketball superpower in Asia – has boosted his hopes of making it to the Olympics once again.

From a “whipping boy”, Iran has been transformed into a championship caliber by Toroman. It cemented its status as Asia’s No. 1 team by ruling the FIBA-Asia Championship in Tianjin, China to earn a slot in next year’s World Championship in Turkey together with China and Jordan.

In that same FIBA-Asia Championship, the all-pro Powerade-Team Pilipinas coached by Yeng Guiao placed eight overall, somehow an improvement from the ninth place finish during the 2007 FIBA-Asia handled by coach Chot Reyes.

It was Toroman who started the program for Iran two years ago, leading the squad to the FIBA-Asia title to enter the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Now, the SBP is hoping that Toroman can do the same for the Philippines.