All gas, no breaks is exactly how I'd describe the way the Toronto Tempo have played through the franchise's first 10 games. For a fresh expansion franchise, being 5-5 is definitely an encouraging start that has fans excited for the remainder of the regular season and hopefully the playoffs. The question now becomes: How sustainable is their offense-first, defense-never style of play? My diagnosis: not long.
At this point in the season, the Tempo ranks fourth in offensive rating and 14th in defensive rating, good for the ninth-best net rating in the league.
The net rating alone represents my exact fear with this Tempo team. With their defense being as poor as it is, if the offense slumps even for a couple of games, they could find themselves slipping down the standings really quickly. A prime example came on Wednesday night against head coach Sandy Brondello's former team, the New York Liberty, who are big, physical, and versatile defensively. They shut down the Tempo's offense, and they had no way to respond on the other side of the ball, leading to their 15-point loss.
Every team in all sports at any level needs an identity, and early on, for the Tempo, it is being a fast-paced, high-scoring team, which is fine. But with every identity, there has to be some level of balance, and if Toronto doesn't figure that out, they may just flame out.
The Tempo are very one-dimensional
When this team was constructed in what was an extremely condensed offseason, on paper, it looked like they had all the makings of a strong defensive unit. Starting with coach Brondello, who, in her four years with the Liberty, had the seventh-, third-, third-, and sixth-best defensive ratings in the league from 2022 to 2025. With her came Brittney Sykes, who built a career off being a gritty, tough, and talented point-of-attack defensive playmaker. And her resume reflects that with four All-Defensive selections and two steal titles.
The team also has tremendous size with seven players being 6-foot-3 or taller and only three players being under 6-foot. With a size like that, there's no excuse for the Tempo to be giving up as many easy buckets as they are.
I can only imagine how much worse things would be without Nyara Sabally in the middle. She's been everything for the Tempo defensively through the first 10 games, and she isn't even known to be some fantastic defensive talent. Yet her elite rim protection is the only thing stopping Toronto from being the worst defensive team in the league with 2.7 stocks (steals + blocks) per game.
I understand that for Sykes, she was propelled into a much bigger offensive role, and with that, her defensive play was bound to take a step back. Going from a 21.5 usage rate to 28.4 would throw anyone off, especially early into a season.
While her defensive playmaking stats remain high at 2.0 stocks (steals + blocks) per game, it seems Toronto would benefit in the long term if she prioritized defense over offense. With other talented guards like Marina Mabrey and Kiki Rice, the Tempo doesn't need Sykes to average nearly 20 points to outscore teams on a nightly basis.
But again, decisions like role allocation aren't up to players but up to Sandy Brondello. And if she's fine with this team being as unbalanced as a shopping cart missing a wheel, so be it.
Add us as a preferred source on Google