Observing Dink Pate and Thierry Darlan in the Mexico City Capitanes-Delaware Blue Coats G-League Game

January 10th, 2025

Yesterday, I took the time to watch Mexico City’s 6-8 forward Dink Pate play against Thierry Darlan and the Delaware Blue Coats in a G-League basketball game. Pate played well in his role, as he especially excelled on offense and showcased very good athleticism, while Darlan grabbed rebounds, and also showcased solid athletic gifts. Darlan was ejected near the end of the first quarter after inadvertently striking an opponent below the belt with his hand when fighting through a screen, and Pate did not play in the fourth quarter, but overall Pate played well in his team’s win over Delaware. Here are my thoughts on how both players fared in this game. Also, for those that are interested in the box score of this game, here is the link, courtesy of the NBA G-League.

Mexico City’s 6-8 forward, Dink Pate scored 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting, made a three-pointer, and he had 3 rebounds and 2 assists in his team’s 105-93 win over Delaware yesterday.
(Photo: Pablo Lomelin/NBAE via Getty Images)

Dink Pate had a satisfactory showing in his team’s win over Delaware. He is a very athletic, energetic swingman that showed off versatile scoring skills, and he excelled as an offensive player in this game.

Pate showed a knack for scoring on hustle plays. He ran the floor to score on an athletic, windmill dunk. He also was able to utilize a pump fake to score on the break while getting fouled. Plus, he also was able to score on a tip-in off of an offensive rebound. Also, Pate was able to make an open corner three smoothly. On the downside, he struggled to make threes consistently, especially when he would get the ball after running off of ball screens.

He also displayed decent playmaking skills. Pate was able to throw a nice touch pass to a roll man to notch an assist due to possessing solid court vision. He also was able to make a quick drive and kick pass to find an open teammate. On one play though, he received the ball in transition, but tried a fancy, behind-the-back move and lost the ball that time.

Also, he was able to chase down balls to get boards on both ends of the floor to help his team on the glass, and Pate is an active rebounder that also will sometimes look to handle the ball up the floor after grabbing defensive rebounds. Defensively, he looked to be fairly average. He has solid lateral quickness and rotates well, and he’ll look to fight through screens. He also was able to contest a couple of shots to force misses, as he also showed the length and athleticism to successfully challenge a dunk attempt to get a stop around the basket. On the downside, sometimes he would struggle to defend opponents off the dribble as well as off cuts, which would lead his team to commit fouls and allow scores.

Overall, Pate played well in his team’s win over Delaware. He is a very athletic, skilled forward that has a versatile skill set, and he is a talented prospect that could end up being a solid pick in the late lottery to the mid first round range of the 2025 draft.

Also, Thierry Darlan played in this game, but was ejected late in the first quarter, and while he is a very athletic forward, judging from his season performance as well as how he played in this game, he still may have a ways to go as a prospect for the NBA.

He wasn’t particularly impactful on offense. Darlan took one shot, as he utilized a pump fake, but missed on a corner three. He did display adequate playmaking skills. He was able to push the pace off of a defensive board, as he made a drive and kick pass in transition to find an open shooter. He also didn’t commit a turnover in this game. There were a couple of instances where he almost did, as he got the ball poked away out of bounds after moving to get the ball inside, and he threw an up for grabs pass that made it to his teammate, but overall, Darlan showed an improved playmaking and feel on offense this time around.

Also, he did a great job of rebounding the basketball. Darlan was very active at crashing the glass to get defensive boards, as he would often leap up to haul them in, and sometimes he would push the ball up the floor afterwards.

Defensively, he looked to be about average at best. On one good play, he hustled back to apparently make an impressive block on a drive in transition to showcase his vast athleticism, but it didn’t count because his teammate committed a foul earlier. Also, Darlan was quite foul prone in the limited minutes he played. He got back but bit on a pump fake and committed a foul that also led his team to give up a score around the basket. He also struggled to fight through a screen, and he ended up inadvertently made contact below the belt with a screener, as he did so with his hand, which led to a Flagrant 2 foul and an ejection.

Overall, this wasn’t a great showcase game for Thierry Darlan and he hasn’t shot the ball well on the season, but he needs a place to play and some playing time, and he has the opportunity to improve his game, as he is getting minutes in the G-League. But the disappointing aspect is that he still hasn’t quite seemed to translate his strong production from the BAL to the G-League yet, but it’s clear that Darlan has the potential to produce in the G-League. Right now, he’s still not quite ready to make the leap to play in the NBA, and he would probably wind up going undrafted if he were to declare to enter the 2025 draft, but if he works hard, he could end up making his way to the association as a Naji Marshall-type of player sometime in the future.

All in all, those are my thoughts on how Dink Pate and Thierry Darlan fared in this game. Thanks for reading.