Nice words, but I hardly know what that means and I have been around the game the better part of my life. Going into Game 2 of their playoff series with Indiana, Chicago had beaten Indiana 7 straight times going back to last year's playoffs. Are you saying that it took 5 meetings with Chicago for Coach White to finally figure out how to move her pawns to free up her queen? Chicago in its deciding game loss shot 57%. Explain how a team that shoots 57% loses a game due to coaching or how the coach of a team whose opponent shoots 57% gets credit for her team's victory?
By chess match, I mean adjustments and counter-adjustments.
Chicago's regular season wins against Indiana mostly came against weakened versions of Indiana.
June 5: no Catchings
June 14: no Catchings, no Larkins, no Howard
June 26: no Larkins, no Clarendon, Zellous
They were mostly at full strength for the Aug. 4 game--missing only Clarendon vs. Dos Santos being out for Chicago. That game was just one of those games where everything went wrong, though. Chicago made everything (63%). Indiana made nothing (34.7%). Zellous got ejected off of two technicals she acquired protesting spurious calls against her.
So I don't think Chicago ever got the "real Indiana" during the regular season. After game 1, I felt like Pokey got out-coached (she let them take away EDD too easily, for one thing) but Chicago survived thanks to Sloot, Quigley, and poor Indiana shooting on quality looks.
Yes, Chicago shot 57% in game 3, but Indiana shot 58%. Some of that is on Pokey. Indiana made 10 threes but Tamera Young barely played and Betnijah Laney didn't play at all. I don't think it's a coincidence that Chicago got torched from the perimeter while their best perimeter defenders sat on the bench. Bless their hearts, but a Sloot, Cappie, Quigley backcourt is a defensive atrocity waiting to happen in the playoffs.
Cappie and Young had played similar minutes in game 2. Young was -1 while Cappie was -12. Yet Cappie still played 30 minutes to Young's 6 in game 3.
Anyhow, it's just my feeling that Chicago could have won that series with better coaching. I can't support it particularly rigorously. That's just how I feel.