The Toronto Tempo have now lost 12 of their last 13 games, their latest a tough match against their fellow expansion team, the Portland Fire. While the usual case for the Tempo this season has been injuries, Brittney Sykes was the sole player on the team’s injury report Thursday night.
Instead, it was an accumulation of turnovers, offensive droughts, and defensive struggles that plagued Toronto in this game. They lost 97-83 to Portland, and spent a big chunk of the game down by more than 20 points before making a late-game attempt at a comeback.
“We were just passive the whole time,” said Tempo point guard Julie Allemand after the game. “We need everyone to be ready to play from the beginning, so we need to look at ourselves first in the mirror, and we just need to be tougher.”
The Tempo turned the ball over 16 times in the game and couldn’t get going offensively, shooting 40 per cent from the field and 29 per cent from three-point range. Marina Mabrey, who sported a taped-up neck after being questionable for the game earlier in the day, scored just nine points.
“We just have to have more discipline, and we spoke about that,” head coach Sandy Brondello said after the loss. “We have to be a little mentally tougher, so that’s the disappointing part.
“We had six [turnovers] in that first quarter, and it didn’t get us off to a great start. We’re gonna have to maybe simplify things, keep it very simple.”
It’s not getting any easier for the Tempo, who will now have three days off before facing the Atlanta Dream on Monday. Both the Dream, and the Dallas Wings right after that on Wednesday, are playoff teams with winning records. Toronto has only won a single game this season against a team with a winning record, when they beat the New York Liberty in Montreal on July 12.
Play on the defensive end has been a struggle for the Tempo, especially with Sykes out of the lineup. The WNBA All-Defense All-Star has been out with a plantar fascia injury since mid-June.
“We probably should have gotten more aggressive earlier, but in the end, they just hunt our poor defenders,” Brondello said of her team’s defensive struggles. “We had to take some pride in doing the one-on-one, the tough stuff. We’ve worked on it all season long, so now we just got to do it.
“You need everyone on the same page, and so we’re just going to continue to focus on it, push on it, and bring the energy. Defence starts with talk, toughness, and just bringing effort.”
With a berth in the postseason now essentially out of reach, the Tempo may focus on other goals for the remainder of the season - the race for the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2027 draft, in particular - where USC star Juju Watkins could be available. The generational player technically has two more years of eligibility left, but can decide to declare for the 2027 draft if she wants to. She is certainly ready, talent-wise, to leap to the professional level.
The Tempo currently have the third-best outlook at winning the draft lottery, and the lower they fall in the WNBA standings, the higher those odds could get.
For the current players on the team, it’s all about having a growth mindset, Brondello says. They are trying to build team identity and trust the process of the season.
“I don’t get too high or too low. If you do, you’re getting too anxious for things that are out of control,” Brondello said before the game in Portland. “Control what’s in front of us, and that’s this game.”
The Tempo are now 10-21 in their inaugural season, with 13 games left to play. A short break before their matchup against Atlanta could provide the team with some much-needed rest.
