u/Nearby_Obligation355

From our most recent game report on tempo.basketball:

For Canadian fans who have been itching to see Eastern Conference player of the week, Caitlin Clark, alongside Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, and the Indiana Fever, you got your money’s worth. The Fever’s big 3 shone brightly tonight, especially Kelsey Mitchell. 

Simply put, Mitchell was unstoppable. She delivered a masterclass in showcasing her talent. We were dazzled by the speed at which she was able to drive to the basket, paired with her ability to change angles on a dime and finishing at the rim. She also shot the ball from anywhere effortlessly and finished the game with 29 points on an efficient 11 of 16 shooting. Had she not left the game in the fourth quarter, we imagine that the score would not have been as close.

On the Tempo side, the strategy was clear. The Fever are last in the league in allowing points in the paint, so the Tempo made a more concerted effort to attack inside. Unfortunately, they were largely unsuccessful with that strategy. Not getting calls from the referees certainly did not help, nor does the fact that the Tempo are second-last in the league in scoring in the paint. This will be an area to address in the off-season. 

Moreover, any attempt at a comeback upset against one of the top teams in the league would’ve required the Tempo to capitalize on all the opportunities they received and they ultimately did not in the fourth quarter. We counted two missed free throws down the stretch, a turnover after the Tempo were gifted an 8-second turnover by Clark, and another turnover by Marina Mabrey with 12 seconds left. Without those errors, the game would have been even closer. 

But, this was a really fun game that featured a return of Brittney Sykes who immediately looked athletic and nimble, and made an impact. And, our bench, including Aneesah Morrow and Temi Fagbenle, played huge tonight.

Read the entire report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-fever-game-report-august-18-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

The Tempo came into this game losing their last nine games – all with similar arcs. The Tempo get off to a good start; they play poor defense; the wheels start to fall off in the second half; they rally a bit but either not enough to come back or their opponent pulls ahead in the 4th quarter and we lose by double digits. It’s been a deflating journey.

In this game, however, despite already being down two starters in Julie Allemand and Maria Conde then losing Nyara Sabally after the first half, the team showed a level of competitiveness and passion that have been lacking as of late.

Several players shone including Marina Mabrey, Kiki Rice, Laura Juškaitė, Aneesah Morrow, and Kia Nurse. As a team, the Tempo outrebounded the Wings and scored more points in the paint. This was refreshing to see. And, while our defense still needs so much improvement, there were flashes in this game where the Tempo showed better rotations, recovery, help, and extra effort. 

This game was also so gettable in the 4th quarter. Yes, the Tempo made multiple mistakes at the end of the game, including giving up an offensive rebound with 57 seconds left, a missed Mabrey free throw that could have made it a three-point game with fifty seconds to go, and an offensive foul and travel committed by Izzy Harrison at the end of the game. However, Arike Ogunbowale received a very friendly whistle tonight. She shot 14 free throws, just four shy of the total number of free throws that the entire Tempo team shot. While some calls were correctly called, we could also argue that Laura Juškaitė drove to the basket and received similar contact as Arike and curiously did not receive the same free throw opportunities.

Read the entire game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-dallas-wings-game-report-august-12-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

In the Tempo's loss to the Dream, they proved that they can go toe-to-toe offensively with the league’s hottest teams, shooting virtually even with the Dream from the floor. But, large stretches of this contest felt like a replay of the same flaws that have haunted them all season. Slow defensive rotations, missed box-outs, and a general lack of bite on the defensive end allowed Atlanta to take the victory.

The Tempo now head to Dallas seeking to avoid a double-digit losing streak in their road trip finale against the Wings. These two teams matched up twice in July with the Wings taking both games decisively. Dallas is aiming to end their 3-game slide as well and are looking to put the nail in the coffin on any fumes of playoff hopes left for Toronto who trail Dallas by 8.5 games in the standings.

On the injury front, Brittany Sykes remains sidelined, though she teased fans on Instagram with a post stating “the band is almost back together.” However, the training room door remains busy with Julie Allemand (thigh) and María Conde (calf) both ruled out, shrinking Toronto’s rotation once again.

Fun (or painful) Fact: Toronto now ranks second in the league in total player games lost to injury. A stat that cleanly sums up the frustration of this 2026 campaign.

To provide reinforcement, Toronto signed guard Zaay Green to a hardship/development contract (be sure to check out our pre-game scouting report on Green!). With Allemand and Conde out, the starting lineup will have a new look and a fresh opportunity for the Tempo to find their rhythm. 

Read the full game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-atlanta-dream-game-report-august-10-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball, we broke down what to expect on the court from the newest Toronto Tempo, Zaay Green.

When looking at Green’s game, it’s clear that she can score the ball in a variety of ways. She likes to operate off pick-and-roll screens, get into the midrange then use her exceptional footwork and a medley of fakes, hesitation dribbles, and turnarounds to create space and pull up for a mid-range jumpshot. 

It is uncertain whether Zaay Green will help to solve the Tempo’s areas of weaknesses but she certainly fits in with our areas of strength.

Read the entire piece here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/who-is-zaay-green-the-newest-toronto-tempo-player/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball

Admittedly, this was a tough game for Tempo fans to watch and we wish there was more good to take from this game. The broadcast said it the best, Portland looks like they were having fun; the Tempo did not. Let’s be honest. The Tempo looked road-weary and deflated from this ongoing losing streak. And it showed on the court. The Tempo missed a lot of layups, free throws, and 3-pointers. The passing was flat and there were a lot of isolation plays from individual players, leading to poor shots.

The Tempo also looked lethargic on the defensive end. The Fire must have sensed that Mabrey did not look 100 percent healthy out there and made her work on defense. This led to open stepback 3s and blow bys. 

The Tempo further struggled to handle the speed of Carla Leite. Simply put, she carved our perimeter defenders and left them in the dust, leading to easy layups and passes to open shooters.

The cards are certainly stacked against the Tempo. But, we are going to lean into Florence and the Machine when they sing “it’s always darkest before the dawn”. Shake it out, Tempo and Tempo fans. Let’s regroup and come back with some competitive spirit in Atlanta. 

Read the entire game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-portland-fire-game-report-august-6-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

Tonight, the Tempo face the Portland Fire, who sit at 11–19 and are attempting to end a five-game losing streak of their own. Toronto has now lost seven straight, so something has to give.

This is one of the more winnable games remaining on the Tempo’s schedule, but they cannot afford another collapse after halftime like they did against the Valkryies again. Watching those games felt like deja-vu.

In both games, the Tempo came out strong, the Valkyries increased their physicality, Toronto became flustered, and the offence fizzled out in the fourth quarter. Even the last post-game presser sounded like it could have come from any of the previous six losses, with Sandy Brondello repeating the familiar message: “We’ve got to be a little bit tougher.”

Toronto needs to protect the ball, compete on the glass, and maintain its physicality for all four quarters, not just the first two. Maybe we can finally get back in the winning column!

Read our entire game report of the Tempo's loss against the Valkryies and outlook for tonight's game vs Portland here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-valkyries-game-report-august-4-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

The Tempo face off against the Golden State Valkyries in a rematch tonight. Last game, for two and a half quarters, the shorthanded Tempo kept up with the third-seeded Valkyries. Despite their lack of effectiveness from the 3-point line, the Tempo switched up their strategy, using physicality and attack inside the paint. While this has generally been an area in need of improvement, they executed the strategy against the Valkyries’ defense. 

However, in the final quarter and a half, Golden State adjusted their game plan and increased their physicality on both ends of the floor. From there, the scrappiness and physicality of the Valkyries flustered the Tempo, leading to Toronto turnovers and successful Golden State drives to the basket. This stretch was reminiscent of their first matchup where Golden State simply bullied the Tempo to submission. Unfortunately, the same problem reared its head again.

Tonight, knowing how much success the Valkyries have with their physicality, we expect them to bring that intensity from minute one. It is up to Coach Sandy Brondello and the Tempo to find ways to counter that intensity and find success without letting the Valkyries get under your skin. 

On offense, we liked seeing the Tempo attack the paint more. From this past game, you can see that Kiki Rice and Nyara Sabally can both be used in these ways. Can they find a better balance between going inside and shooting the 3-ball, making themselves more dynamic and harder for the Valkyries to guard? 

What might help is the arrival of newly acquired player, Aneesah Morrow, who is slated to play and does not back down from any physicality. It will be exciting to see what she brings, and this game could provide the perfect opportunity for her to showcase her strengths. 

Read the entire game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/08/tempo-vs-valkyries-game-report-august-2-2026/

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

This is absolutely a phenomenal pickup for the Tempo. For the Tempo, Morrow’s strengths will immediately be helpful and welcomed to this team. 

On the defensive side, Morrow fills exactly what the Tempo have desperately needed all season long. As Zulfi Sheikh notes, Morrow led the league in defensive rebounding rate last season (31.9%). This season, the Tempo are second-worst in the league in defensive rebounding and third-worst in rebounding overall. At an average of 8.9 rebounds per game, Morrow is currently ranked eighth in the league in rebounding. For reference, Izzy Harrison is currently the Tempo’s leading rebounder with 6.4 rebounds per game. Morrow will come in and immediately become the Tempo’s best rebounder. 

On the offensive side, while Morrow still needs to improve her scoring efficiency (she is currently shooting just 42% from the field, 28% from 3, and 62% from the free throw line), she works best operating in the paint through drives, hustle plays, and working in the dunker spot. The Tempo have lacked points in the paint all season long and Morrow can immediately improve that area of need. 

Read the full breakdown of the trade and what it means for the Tempo here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-trade-for-aneesah-morrow/

A snippet from our recent game report on tempo.basketball, where we break down the good, bad, and outlook after the Tempo's loss to the Minnesota Lynx:

In their first game back from the all star break, the Toronto Tempo put on a valiant effort on the road against the Minnesota Lynx. Unfortunately they fell short losing 100 - 93. 

Raptors’ legendary commentator, Jack Armstrong, regularly says, “They say there is no such thing as a moral victory, but…”. Jack’s saying very much applies to the Tempo in this game. Despite being shorthanded and seemingly out of the game to start the 4th quarter, the Tempo clawed their way back and challenged the best team in the WNBA until the final minute.

But, it’s hard not to think that the Tempo was simply “out-talented” by their opponent. Miles scored 24 points and looked unstoppable. Beyond Miles, the Lynx has one of the best shooters in the game in Kayla McBride who shot 60% from the field and contributed 18 points. The Tempo actually did an admirable job in guarding former MVP, Napheesa Collier, as well as Natasha Howard. However, as a collective, the Lynx simply had too much fire power and their ability to make the next pass to find the player with the most open shot was a marvel to watch. 

We knew upsetting the Lynx was going to be a tough task, but the loss is especially deflating when the Tempo become victims of their own mistakes. The Tempo turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 16 points for the Lynx. While the discrepancy in points off turnovers was not glaring, the Lynx defenders did an excellent job of applying pressure when the Tempo brought the ball up the court and we counted at least a handful of times where the Tempo tried to make the first pass and it resulting in a run out turnover for the Lynx. Those mistakes were crucial in giving the Lynx the lead in the second quarter and have to be addressed in order for the Tempo to have a chance against these top teams in the league.

Read the entire game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-lynx-game-report-july-28-2026/

As reported by Annie Costabile (who is one of the most locked in W reporters in the business): https://x.com/AnnieCostabile/status/2082203323768177003

This is very interesting!

Now that the all star break is behind us, let's take a moment to refresh ourselves on all-things Tempo basketball, including what happened during the Tempo's last game against the Aces and what to look for in their matchup tonight against the Lynx, to get us all locked in for the second half of the season!

Read the entire piece up on tempo.basketball here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-aces-game-report-july-20-2026/

The WNBA trade deadline is fast approaching! To be clear, I don’t think the Toronto Tempo are going to make any moves before the trade deadline. But, in the spirit of this trade season, here are 3 mock trades we cooked up at tempo.basketball that the Tempo should consider:

1. Temi Fágbénlé to the Dallas Wings for Alanna Smith
2. Temi Fágbénlé and the 2028 first round pick to the Washington Mystics for Shakira Austin
3. Maria Conde to the Dallas Wings for Li Yueru

Read the reasons for why these trades could help the Tempo here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/3-trade-ideas-for-the-toronto-tempo/

Thoughts? Any other fun trades that we missed?

All star weekend is here! With that, the Tempo get a much-needed break before we enter into the latter half of this season.

At tempo.basketball, we took this moment to reflect back on the Tempo’s inaugural season thus far. We offer five observations:

1. Marina Mabrey was the best pick in the expansion draft.
2. The Tempo would be in the playoffs if we had Shakira Austin
3. The Toronto Tempo do not feel like an expansion team
4. We need a defensive identity
5. Is being the best of the rest a worthwhile goal for the season?

 

Read the full piece here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/5-observations-on-the-tempo-season-thus-far/

Is there anything that we missed? Would love to hear your thoughts!

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball:

The Toronto Tempo continue to struggle against the best teams in the WNBA, falling 111 - 92 to the Atlanta Dream. To make matters worse, it seems like every time the Tempo play the Dream, controversy ensues.

We break down the good, bad, and outlook from this game.

Read the entire game report here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-dream-game-report-july-17-2026/

From our most recent game report on tempo.basketball:

As seen in our previous game against the Mystics, the Tempo once again exposed our lack of frontcourt size. The Mystics out-rebounded 47-26 holding us to only 5 offensive rebounds for the entire game! FIVE!?

At times it has felt like we have enough bigs with Sabally, Izzy, and (to a point) Juškaitė; but this game really showed how much of a gap there is. Kiki, Betts, and Shakira shut us down in a big way.

We could go on and on about bad things, but as Julie pointed out post-game, “it’s easier to find bad stuff to say about us today because we really weren’t playing well”.

Atlanta is up next and they are similar to the Mystics in their paint presence. Sandy put it nicely, “we have to prepare to put up a little bit more resistance next game”. Temi Fagebenle is listed as probable, so fingers crossed that she is feeling good and could possibly put in some limited minutes. Her presence would be appreciated in what is sure to be a very physical game against Atlanta.

Read the full breakdown of the Tempo's loss to the Mystics and outlook for tonight's game here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-mystics-game-report-july-14-2026/

I remember watching her play for Team Canada and thought she was a really solid big. Happy to see she is getting more time with the Tempo!

From our most recent piece on tempo.basketball: 

Questions have swirled online about whether Betnijah Laney-Hamilton meant to throw the shoe at Mabrey. The Liberty defended her and said that she was trying to throw the shoe back to Jones, but missed and accidentally hit Mabrey. To Mabrey’s immense credit, she also brushed off the incident and simply stated that, “I am working on not being rage baited.” 

Thanks to a fan angle, we can now clearly see some evidence of what happened.

Read the full breakdown of the Tempo's win against the Liberty and what to expect for tonight's matchup against the Mystics here: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-liberty-game-report-july-12-2026/

Marina Mabrey put on a show against the Dallas Wings on Friday July 10th to a record breaking crowd of 20,996 at the Montreal Bell Centre. Despite leading at the end of the third quarter, the Tempo weren’t able to hold on, losing 108 – 95.

This report breaks down the good, bad, and outlook from game: https://tempo.basketball/2026/07/tempo-vs-wings-game-report-july-10-2026/