At 34 years old, Pep Cargol he scores 34.8% of his triples with Gijón from 2001-2002 (he made an average 33.3% in his career), a ratio higher than the current average in the NBA (34%) and close to 36% in the ACB … where would this 2.04 m mobile play now?
Searching for the answer is useless but also entertaining.
Pep seals his Asturian stage with the sting of relegation in a team with Galician ties (Moncho Lopez, Javi rodriguez, Esmoris) and jumps to the CAI Zaragoza of LEB but the year ends tasteless and he retires. Before, a thousand stages, several with a taste of glory.
Pisces of March 11, 1968, Josep Cargol Costa, was born in Sant Joan les Fonts, a town in Girona that today does not have three thousand inhabitants, a small place, like West Baden Springs, in deep Indiana, the birthplace of Larry Bird, whom Pep angered in October 1988.
He is 20 years old and the green myth, which comes from working his best scoring course (29.9 p.), Turns 32 years old. That duel between Real Madrid and Boston Celtics occurs at the Open McDonald’s tournament. Rubiales scores 29 points, his dark defender 15.
Such yesterday makes you think of beardless talents like Garuba O Santi Aldama Jr., recently recruited by the NBA in 2021. Cargol has said that, after measuring Bird, he received a call but there was no more. Delving, last March, Rickey Brown, silky 2.08 m. In Europe in the 80s and 90s, he tweeted like this: “When we played together (1991-1993), Cargol was a scorer, in the present NBA, he would be a good scorer.”
The Pep who arrived in Madrid in December 1987 does not even shave. He is a youth, comes from Santa Coloma (First B) signed for 15 million (The country, dixit). As a madridista, he learns a lot, he leaves little and in the third exercise, the one that opens after defender a Bird, Lolo sainz puts 20 minutes a night on a team that does not win to buy balls from Petrovic, which averages 28.4 p .; he, progresses, and contributes 9.5 p.
January 1990, Pep achieves 26 goals (it will be his ACB record). It sits in the middle class with 18/20 min. It is part of white successes such as embracing two Leagues, two Cups, two Recopas, one Korac and the 1995 Euroleague (European Cup). Sometimes it looks like star meat but … no. He is part of the bronze Spain of the 1991 Eurobasket, where Diaz-Miguel it does not manage to spin the transition towards 1992 (there was an Olympic hit).
At the age of 27, he performs like never before in the Valvi Girona from 1995-1996: 10.6 p. and 3.2 reb. in 27 min.
Live three years Girona with Trypho Poch of coach and then oscillates between Benfica, Caja San Fernando, PAOK and the aforementioned stops in Gijón and Zaragoza. At 41 he drops the ball, studies Physiotherapy, becomes a coach and, since 2018, has been the sports director of Casademont Zaragoza, all after touching the moon … without reaching it.
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1995 Trypho Poch, coach with more than 500 ACB matches, comments on EL CORREO his vision of Pep Cargol, whom he trained for three seasons (1995-1998) at Valvi Girona: “He was versatile. I have usually liked having outside players with his profile, capable of playing both close to the basket and face. It was great to play outside and, therefore, with the ability to post smaller forwards, being a great help on the rebound in both hoops, with the possibility of defending an inside player without problems. It had outside shot, enough mobility for its size, even with a boat. He was good on the counterattack and a good passer. Player with personality, he had leadership, he was serious, a good worker on a day-to-day basis and committed to his team. He came from Madrid, he was a very good professional and, therefore, he was a great help for us in terms of image, respect for the referees and the league, and as a reference for our players. He was also born in Girona, which for the organization was an important plus. It helped us decisively to consolidate the Valvi Girona project in the ACB ”. And regarding how he would fit in today’s basketball, Trypho gets wet: “It would be just as important as in his time, or more, because now you work much better physically and he had a great chassis. So adding power to his technical qualities, his knowledge of the game and his seriousness would undoubtedly put him in the current Euroleague ”.
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