LUANDA (2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments) - The Beijing 2008 Olympics feel like a lifetime ago for Angola's Edson Ndoniema, who is looking to help his country return to the Summer Games via this summer's FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade, Serbia.

The 1.92m shooting guard was just 17 years old - and a star performer at the 2008 U18 Africa Championship - the last time Angola played in the Olympics.

The feeling among the former Africa champions is that they will face their toughest challenge in recent years on the world stage at the six-team OQT running from 4-9 July.

Ndoniema looks at it as a "great opportunity [for Angola] to return to the Olympics". Only the winner of the event will qualify and the Angolans will need to get the better of hosts Serbia and Puerto Rico in Group A to keep their Rio de Janeiro Olympics aspirations alive.

One win in the Group Phase can keep them in contention as it would allow them to face one of the top teams in Group B - which consists of Czech Republic, Japan and Latvia - in the Semi-Finals.

Angola (ANG) beat The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) in their opening game of the 2012 OQT in Caracas, Venezuela 

"It's a tough competition with top teams, but we are a good team as well. So, we are going there to compete and win games," Ndoniema said to FIBA.com. "There is always something to learn from this kind of competition.”

More than following in the footsteps of his Olympian wife Sonia Guadalupe - who represented Angola at the London Games - Ndoniema considers the Rio Olympics not only as his childhood dream but also as the pinnacle of his career.

I hope to be able to help Angola clinch a spot for the Olympics. Most of my national teammates have already played in the Olympics, and I am hoping to do my best to follow suit. It will be difficult to qualify [for the Olympics], but I have learned that nothing comes cheap in life. - Ndoniema

And the idea that there are no favourites in the OQTs seems to have become a norm these days. Serbia big man Miroslav Raduljica recently said he was more concerned about the European teams, maybe because he knows them better, but also pointed out that "nowadays in basketball anyone can beat anyone else".

That is exactly what Ndoniema believes too.

"We have faced Puerto Rico during the preparations for the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and although it is a good team I think it is within our reach," he offered. "But we are going to need to play with attitude and try to play better than them. I still think they are favourites but they will need to prove it on the basketball court."

Knowing my teammates as well as the coaching staff, I believe that we can beat Puerto Rico. Serbia belongs to a higher level. It will be difficult to beat them in front of their fans but it’s not impossible. - Ndoniema

A lot has been said about Angola no longer being the dominant force of African basketball. Last August, for example, Nigeria proved too much for them as they won a first-ever AfroBasket title and as result qualified directly for Rio 2016. Angola, meanwhile, failed to qualify automatically for the second straight time.

Ndoniema is a part of the new generation of Angolans tasked with keeping the country at the top of African basketball as well inside the top 15 of the FIBA World Ranking Men.

"Nigeria entered that game with a lot more attitude than us. They controlled it from start to finish and that proved costly to us," he recalled.

"We still can win an African championship, but we need to regroup and reestablish our team's preparation. We need to be more organised. If you aren't organised you never win a thing in sports.

"Yanick [Moreira], Braulio [Morais], Gildo [Santos] and I, we have been playing together since the U18 national team. We've always dreamt about the opportunity of representing our country on the biggest stage, and reaching the Olympics would be pinnacle of our careers."

The 25-year-old Primeiro D'Agosto ace insists anything is possible in the OQT as long as Angola improve their preparations plans.

"I have always heard that offense wins games and defense wins championships," Ndoniema said. "So I am looking to bring my defensive game to the table and try to contribute offensively as well. If there is a player on the opposing team scoring many points, usually I am asked to stop him."

FIBA