Filiberto Rivera (born September 28, 1982), also known as "Fili", is a Puerto Rican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who plays for Cangrejeros de Santurce of the BSN in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

. Rivera has played in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

and the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Naci ...

(BSN), and has also played internationally in Germany and Italy. He was a member of the Puerto Rican National Team.

Biography

Amateur career

Rivera has played in the National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico since 1999. Rivera won Rookie of the Year in 2000 for National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico. Rivera had a notable college career where he was named First Team NJCAA All-American, Junior College Player of the Year (2002–03), and First Team All-WAC his junior and senior seasons. Ranks third on

University of Texas El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

all-time lists in career assists (381)and free throw percentage (.815). Finished collegiate career at Texas-El Paso after playing first two seasons at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, Iowa. During his senior year (2004–05), Rivera averaged 13.5 points while leading the WAC and ranking seventh nationally in assists (7.2 apg). Also paced the conference in free throw shooting (.853) and ranked sixth in steals (1.3 spg). Season total of 229 assists set a school record. Dished out 10 or more assists five times and posted two double-doubles. Recorded a school single-game record 18 assists versus zero turnovers vs.

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. Tallied 23 points and six assists at

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Posted 19 points and 12 assists vs.

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

. Scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high seven steals at San Jose State. Registered a career-high 32 points vs. Boise State in the WAC tournament title game. Earned WAC Tournament MVP honors. During his junior year (2003–04), Rivera averaged 11.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists (third in the WAC) and 1.7 steals (fourth). Scored in double figures in 21 games. Recorded season-high 22 points at

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

. Tallied 14 points and eight assists vs.

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

. Named to the WAC All-Tournament team after averaging 9.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in three games. Registered 14 points, six assists, and a career-high nine rebounds vs. Nevada in the WAC Tournament title game. Scored 12 points and grabbed six assists vs.

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. During his sophomore year (2002–03), at Southeastern Community College (Iowa), Rivera averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 assists. Helped lead Southeastern to a 37-1 record and a NJCAA Tournament championship. Averaged 17.4 points during the NJCAA Tournament on his way to MVP honors. Led team with 18 points in the title game vs. San Jacinto (Tex.). Set season-high with 37 points vs. Iowa Western. Named a First Team NJCAA All-American and Junior College Player of the Year. During his freshman year (2001–02), Rivera averaged 11.9 points and a team-high 5.1 assists. Ranked third on the team in scoring and led the squad in average steals. Helped team to a 25-10 overall record.

NBA and Europe

During the summer of 2005, Filiberto participated in the Summer Pro League with the Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers. During the summer of 2006, Rivera represented Puerto Rico in the

Basketball World Championship 2006 The 2006 FIBA World Championship was the 15th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. The tournament was hosted by Japan and held from 19 August to 3 September 2006. It was co-organised by ...

and

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The tournament began on July 15 and ended on July 30. Host city *Main host city **Cartagena de Indias *Subsites: ** Barranquilla, Colombia ...

where Puerto Rico won the Gold Medal. During the 2006–2007 season, Rivera played with Artland Dragons of the German Bundesliga. The Dragons were regarded as a "Cinderella team" entering the playoffs, winning the first round against Alba Berlin. Rivera led the team in the league's semifinal, scoring sixteen points, five rebounds and three assists in a victory over the Koeln the fifth and last game of the series. Rivera had an average of 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.0 prior to the finals. During Summer of 2007, he was invited to participate with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

during the Pepsi Pro Summer League, but did not play due to injury. He started the 2007/08 season in Italy with Eldo Basket Napoli left on December 12, and joined AEK Athens BC Has a child that he does not take care of but the child is well taken care of. On 2006 Rivera participated in the BSN, where he led the team to the league's championship. On January 29, 2008, the Carolina Giants announced that they began negotiations with Rivera. On January 31, 2008 the team officially announced Rivera's signing. Prior to 2010–2011 season Rivera has signed with Israeli club

Bnei HaSharon Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. I ...

On October 28, 2016, Rivera parted ways with the German team

Science City Jena Medipolis SC Jena is a basketball club based in Jena, Germany that plays in the ProA. Their home court is the Sparkassen Arena, which seats 3,000. Their current head coach is Dominik Reinboth. The team was known as Erdgas Baskets Jena through ...

Career stats

Rivera's

stats in 64 games are 790 points with a 12.3 PPG, 381 assists with a 6.0 APG, 184 rebounds with a 2.9 RPG, 97 steals with a 1.5 SPG, .452 field goal percentage, .815 free-throw percentage, and .360 3-point percentage. Rivera's

stats in 57 games are 830 points with a 14.6 PPG, 349 assists with a 6.1 APG, 153 rebounds with a 2.7 RPG, 142 steals with a 2.5 SPG, .460 field goal percentage, .778 free-throw percentage, and .269 3-point percentage.

References

External links

Latinbasket.com profile

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Filiberto 1982 births Living people 2006 FIBA World Championship players 2010 FIBA World Championship players AEK B.C. players Ángeles de Puebla (basketball) players Artland Dragons players Atléticos de San Germán players Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basket Napoli players Basketball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Bnei HaSharon players Brose Bamberg players Caciques de Humacao players Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Fuerza Regia de Monterrey players Halcones Rojos Veracruz players Indios de Mayagüez basketball players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Maratonistas de Coamo players Marinos B.B.C. players Pan American Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in basketball Panteras de Aguascalientes players People from Carolina, Puerto Rico Plateros de Fresnillo players Point guards Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Germany Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Mexico Puerto Rican expatriate basketball people in Venezuela Puerto Rican men's basketball players Puerto Rico men's national basketball team players Santeros de Aguada basketball players Science City Jena players Southeastern Blackhawks men's basketball players UTEP Miners men's basketball players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games