Filiberto Rivera

Filiberto Rivera ( born September 28, 1982 in Carolina, Puerto Rico ) is a Puerto Rican basketball player. The professional plays next engagements in his native country, especially in Europe, but has played during his studies in U.S. college leagues. For his homeland Rivera participants was at the World Basketball Championships in 2006 and 2010. His European career started in 2005 at the German first division Artland Dragons, playing alongside two seasons for the Dragons in the 2008 /09 BBL season for the Premier League rivals Brose Baskets of Bamberg.

Career

After he was active in the League Baloncesto Superior Nacional native previously, Rivera began in 2001 to study in the United States. He studied at Southeastern Community College in Iowa. At this junior college, he was active for the high school team Blackhawks in the National Junior College Athletic Association, with whom he won the 2003 national championship of Division I. After two years he moved to the University of Texas at El Paso and played for the Miners in the Conference USA NCAA. The Miners are historically an important team of the NCAA, as they 1966 their only national championship won for the first time during a high phase of the Civil Rights Movement with a starting five that consisted only of colored players. With the Miners to Rivera could each qualify for the national finals, but where you eliminated in the first round. Despite its two -year college career with the Miners Rivera ranks fourth in assists in the all-time best list of Miners and has the most assists per game and scored in a game.

In 2005 he moved to study end to the Artland Dragons in the German Basketball Bundesliga. With this team he was able to qualify in 2006 and 2007 for the play- offs for the German championship. Nor excreted in the first round in 2006, they beat the 2007 First Round Main Alba Berlin and moved to the finals, where they lost to the Brose Baskets. Also in the German cup competition, Vice one was after the final defeat against Rhein Energy Cologne, after being previously eliminated in the semi-finals. The following season, 2007/ 08 to December Rivera played in the Italian Naples and then in the Greek A1 Ethniki AEK Athens. In 2008 he returned to the German BBL and played at the Brose Baskets. After they had only just reached the play-offs, would retire in semifinal series against the eventual champions EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Rivera, who was also during his studies, first in the summer months in the native league BSN active, played in the first episode only in the BSN. In the season 2010/11 he was again active in the Israeli Ligat ha Al overseas.

National

After Rivera had previously played in the youth and junior representative teams in his home country, he was active for the national team of men in various competitions since 2004, although he did not yet the squad Puerto Rico belonged at the 2004 Olympics. Since Puerto Rico was not qualified for the 2008 Olympics, he has not so far taken part in the Olympic Games. At the World Basketball Championship 2006 & 2010 would retire twice just from in the first group stage, as you each China had to defer in triple comparison, although this had defeated each in direct comparison. In the FIBA Americas Championships Rivera won the 2007 in the U.S. with Puerto Rico and the bronze medal in 2009 in the home country the silver medal.