Two games from the midpoint of their inaugural season, the Toronto Tempo have ticked plenty off their expansion-team checklist.
First basket? Check.
First win? Check.
First award? Check.
What star guard Marina Mabrey did Thursday against the Los Angeles Sparks, though? No one had that on their to-do list.
If you’re reading this, you know by now that Mabrey tied a WNBA record with 53 points in a blowout win over Los Angeles at home. You know that she had two shots to break the record, and that she checked out with one minute remaining to the dismay of the home crowd.
Yet to be seen is where the iconic performance lands on the where-were-you-when meter from this opening campaign.
The expansion Toronto Raptors, a mostly dismal team, will always have their shocking win over Michael Jordan and the 72-win last-dance Chicago Bulls. Blame the Toronto Flu, but you can’t take away that Raptors victory.
These Tempo, though, are aiming much higher.
Sitting 9-10 and with more than a week off before they return at home against the Dallas Wings on Sunday, the Tempo face a critical juncture in their season: seven more contests in their nine-game homestand (including two in Montreal, where a potential WNBA-record crowd could make for another moment), all against teams above them in the standings.
Toronto, which sits on the playoff fringe at ninth in the league-wide standings, has yet to beat a team that currently sits above it in the standings.
But head coach Sandy Brondello said they could use Mabrey’s historic night as a jumping-off point.
“I think just what we’re capable of when we all come together and play the right way and really committing to playing defence as a unit and offensively playing with pace and just moving the ball,” she said.
“These last few games, we’ve had the most assists we’ve had all season long. I think that’s the way to go because that’s the hardest thing to guard when the ball’s popping around and we have good inside and outside attack.”
Toronto beats Los Angeles 125-97. Marina Mabrey finishes with 53 points, tying the WNBA record for most points in a single game. Her nine three-pointers also ties a WNBA record.
Ballon burst
The balloon from Mabrey’s game burst rather quickly, however, as she missed the next game — the Tempo’s first at Scotiabank Arena — with a neck injury sustained in warmups.
Still, with a week of practice ahead of them and the framework for success firmly in place, this next stretch could prove make or break.
“People don’t have super high expectations for us, but we know what we’re capable of in that locker room, and I want to be able to instill confidence in my entire team,” Mabrey said. “And when I’m making shots like that, I mean, I think it’s really inspiring to the rest of my teammates and vice versa.”
The Tempo have battled injuries all season long, with their frontcourt decimated at the beginning of the season and their backcourt — starters Brittney Sykes and Kiki Rice also missed the Scotiabank Arena game, a loss to the Phoenix Mercury — now hobbled.
There is some hope that Rice could be ready to return after the week off, which would make the Tempo more whole than they’ve been basically all season and allow Brondello to unleash her preferred attack.
“We had [wings] Laura [Juskaite] and Maria [Conde] for post for a while, but now we actually have post players. I’m excited just how we can continue to evolve that good inside-outside attack,” Brondello said.
Canada Basketball, Canadian roots
This generation of Canadian basketball players, from Kia Nurse to Jamal Murray to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are children of the Vince Carter effect, inspired to pick up a ball by the Raptors star’s exploits in the early 2000s.
Now, it seems the shape of Canadian basketball is evolving once more. Consider it the We The North movement?
In the wake of the Raptors’ 2019 title — and, really, in the years before, too — the Canadian basketball landscape began changing.
The Canadian Elite Basketball League was born that year. The calls for a WNBA team grew louder. Anecdotally, more and more people were talking about and playing hoops.
As such, the talent levels and the feeder systems across the country increased.
Both the men’s and women’s senior teams had training camps this month which included some interesting players.
For the women, who will play an exhibition against the UCLA squad July 22 in Victoria, the most glaring addition was Myriam Kone, an Edmonton native who plays for TMU under Tempo assistant Carly Clarke.
Kone’s inclusion provided valuable experience for the player among a group of players that was all pros and NCAAers otherwise.
Michigan’s Syla Swords, a fast riser in the system and in the U.S., just signed the first NIL deal with Nike Canada.
On the men’s side, the CEBL influence is apparent.
Charles Bediako, a big man on the league-leading Scarborough Shooting Stars, was named to the training-camp roster on Monday alongside the likes of NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, European pro Kyle Wiltjer and young NBAer/G-Leaguer Leonard Miller.
Many different paths, indeed. But Bediako is confident he belongs.
“You’re trying to show the staff that you’re reliable, you can be coachable, and they can also trust you if they put you in the game. I mean, just show what I can do. That’s also a big thing as well. Not just going to training camp to go be a part of training camp,” Bediako said.
Bediako’s summer schedule might see him play with Team Canada in World Cup qualifiers in Hamilton, Ont., on Friday against Puerto Rico and Monday against Jamaica, then head to NBA Summer League in Vegas, then return to the Shooting Stars for a CEBL title run.
The goal through all of that? Just get better.
“Everything I’m on, I’m trying to get better, but also showing what I can do to contribute to the team. But obviously the CEBL, kind of just getting my feet back under myself, just getting better, helping me prepare for Team Canada or Summer League and then preparing for the other way around,” he said.
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