Válter da Silva

Valtinho

No. 9 – São José
Position	Point guard
League	Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB)
Personal information
Born	31 January 1977 Rio Claro, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	194 lb (88 kg)
Career history
?–?	Continental-SP
?–?	Rio Claro-SP
?–?	COC/Ribeirão Preto
?–2001	Franca
2002–2007	Uberlândia
2008	Vasco da Gama
2008–2010	Brasília
2010–2014	Uberlândia
2014–present	São José
Career highlights and awards
NBB champion (2010) 3× NBB All-Star (2009-2011) South American League MVP (2005)
Medals Men’s Basketball Representing  Brazil Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo Team 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team South American Championship 2003 Montevideo Team

Válter Apolinário da Silva (31 January 1977), also called Valtinho, is a Brazilian professional basketball player who plays for São José Basketball in the Novo Basquete Brasil. Born in Rio Claro, he is a point guard, and he is considered one of the last classical point guards in Brazilian basketball.

Career

Recognized for being a player who has responsibility for defining moments and he knows enough to control the dynamics of the game always printing the pace of his team on the court. Valtinho has been the great conductor of Uberlândia for six seasons, and beside the legendary coach Helio Rubens Garcia and his son Helio Rubens Filho, won the 2004 national title, winning Flamengo in the final series by 3-0.

A great season for Uberlândia did Valtinho being selected by the coach Lula Ferreira to compete in the 2007 Pan American Games, in Rio de Janeiro. It was his return to the Brazilian national team after four years. The team, which had players like Leandro Barbosa, Marcelinho Machado, Marquinhos and Marcelinho Huertas, received unconditional support of Brazilian fans and won the title, after playing the final against Puerto Rico.

After the Pan American Games, Valtinho moved to Vasco da Gama to compete for the state championship in Rio de Janeiro, where he was defeated by his greatest rival Flamengo. His short spell at Gigante da Colina ended when the point guard has signed with the then Brazilian champion Brasilia.

In three seasons with the team, Valtinho became one of the greatest idols of the fans of Brasilia. Beside Alex Garcia and Arthur Belchior, da Silva was defeated in two consecutive finals of the national championship for Flamengo, which initiated the largest Brazilian basketball rivalry of recent times . But the following season, Brasilia hit back on the team led by Marcelinho Machado winning the Liga Sudamericana and the national championship in 2010. That year, Valtinho was convened by Rubén Magnano to play 2010 FIBA World Championship, but was cut off from particular reasons.

After the World Championships, Valtinho returned to the city where he was idol, Uberlândia. In the first two seasons of Uberlândia the NBB, the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Brasília, in 2011, and Flamengo in 2012. But the team's third appearance at the NBB in 2013, it was agreed the return of two idols, Helio Helio Rubens Rubens Garcia and Son. The return of the two, added to Valtinho and Americans Robert Day and Robby Collum, led to Uberlândia final against Flamengo, repeating the final nine years ago. But the ending was different. The face of their fanatical fans, Flamengo annulled Robert Day, and led by the center Caio Torres, won his third national title.^[1]

References

1. "Flamengo campeão!". LNB.com.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 July 2013.

1. http://www.acb.com/jugador.php?id=745