The point guard, formerly of Belgacom Spirou Basket of Charleroi, Belgium will be joining the ranks of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv tomorrow (Thursday, December 29, 2011). So far this season he has averaged 18.9 points in the Euroleague.
By Amy Samin
Demond Mallet (33, 6’2”) is expected to arrive in Israeli tomorrow (Thursday, December 29, 2011) and to undergo the standard medical testing required prior to his taking his place on the team. He has been released from Belgacom.
The American from Louisiana is an extremely agile point guard who shoots well but is also expert at handing out assists. An excellent pick-and-roll player and an experienced leader with game smarts, Mallet is known for being a sociable sort who has a great character and is easy to be around. Mallet is the cousin of basketball great Shaquille O’Neal, one of the best centers in the history of the game, and like his relative he enjoys making people happy.
Mallet played for six seasons in Germany, two years in Spain, a year in Turkey, and a year and a half in Belgium. His impressive record includes winning the ULEB Cup with Joventut Badalona in 2008, two national championships (in Belgium in 2011 with Charleroi, and in Germany in 2005 with GHP Bamberg), two national cups (the German National Cup in 2007 with RheinEnergie Cologne and the 2008 Spanish National Cup – the King’s Cup – with Badalona). Last season he was named Player of the Year in Belgium.
Mallet, a graduate of McNeese State University, began his European career in the summer of 2001 in Germany, where he played for the Braunschweig Phantoms for three seasons. In the 2003 – 2004 season he participated for the first time in the ULEB Cup, where he posted impressive averages of 18.3 points, 3.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.5 steals per game.
In 2004 – 2005 Mallet moved to a different German team, GHP Bamberg, which he led to the championship with averages of 16.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists. Mallet stayed with the German champions for another season and played in the Euroleague, finishing his first season in the best league in Europe with averages of 13.6 points and 2 assists per game and helping his team reach the Top 16.
Mallet moved on to his last stop in Germany in 2006 – 2007 when he joined RheinEnergie Cologne, which participated in the Euroleague that season, and led them to the German National Cup, where he was selected MVP. In his six years in the German premier league, he participated in five All-Star games, winning the All-Stars MVP award in 2007.
The first major shift in Mallet’s career came when he moved to Spain’s Joventut Badalona in the summer of 2007; he played there for two seasons. Alongside Rudy Fernandez and Ricky Rubio he led the Catalonian team to victory in the 2008 ULEB Cup, where he scored 26 points (including six three pointers) in the Final against Ariel McDonald’s Akasvayu Girona. He finished that season with averages of 13.6 points and 2.4 assists in the ULEB Cup, and also added the prestigious Spanish King’s Cup to his trophy case.
In his second season in Spain Mallet returned to the Euroleague, where his team finished their season without qualifying for the Top 16. But in the Spanish League, the best national league in Europe, he contributed 10.1 points and 3.3 assists per game. Mallet moved to Turkey for the 2009 – 2010 season, joining Türk Telecom BK of Ankara, where he averaged 13.2 points and 3.2 assists in the Eurocup.
Mallet moved to Belgium last season (2010 – 2011), joining Belgacom Spirou Basket of Charleroi, which took part in the qualifying rounds of the Euroleague. In his 16 games in the league he contributed an average of 12.6 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.2 rebounds per game. He led Charleroi to the Belgian Championship, and he was named the season’s MVP of the Belgium Ethias League.
This season Mallet has been the anchor of the Belgacom team, attaining a career-high average in the Euroleague of 18.9 points (third best in the Euroleague) with excellent percentages (51% from 2 point range, 38% from 3 point range), along with 2.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds.
