Basketball Intelligence For 8/12/15
Today's Best NBA Reporting And Analysis
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The Toronto Tempo are playing basketball chess
Chelsea Leite, The Next
The under-the-radar concerns for each NBA contender in the 2025-26 season
ESPN
WNBA
The Toronto Tempo are playing basketball chess
Chelsea Leite, The Next
Expansion is a hot topic in the WNBA right now, and the Toronto Tempo have the distinction of being the league’s first and only international franchise. There are challenges to introducing an international team to the WNBA — border crossings, currency exchanges, and the varying cost of living, just to name a few. Yet, instead of focusing on the hurdles, the Tempo staff leaning into their unique identity, using it to build their reputation as the WNBA’s 14th franchise in a dynamic city with lots to offer.
Right now, it’s all about establishing the team’s culture for general manager Monica Wright Rogers and assistant general manager Eli Horowitz. Both are in the process of settling into Toronto after working as assistant general managers for West Coast WNBA teams — Rogers for the Phoenix Mercury and Horowitz for the Los Angeles Sparks — and have collaborated in the past.
“I’ve known Eli for years, and I really just gained a respect for his viewpoint, his perspective, his body of work,” said Rogers in an exclusive interview with The Next. “I knew I wanted to modernize our front office, ensuring that we were on the cutting edge of analytics and using data to help shape our roster. That’s something Eli is really strong in. … He was the first person I thought of [for the assistant general manager role].”
For Horowitz, the chance to work closely with Rogers was a big selling point for making the jump from the Sparks to the Tempo. The chance to “put their heads together,” as he said to The Next, was a big motivator for him. He wants to create something special that’s both brand new but also comes from two minds that have been invested in the WNBA for years.
LEAGUEWIDE
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