Mohegan – It was all there even before the game began. The Connecticut Sun, amid what could have been a mundane shooting drill, teasing each other, encouraging each other, laughing and giggling. Chelsea Gray, the rookie, made a pass to Jasmine Thomas that in football would have been incomplete.

"What was THAT?" Sun coach Anne Donovan said playfully, needling Gray from the bench.

"Quiet down, Angie," Gray replied.

Angie.

They're calling Anne Donovan "Angie" now. And the coach loves it.

It stems from a preseason game when Donovan went to insert Inga Orekhova into a game and mistakenly called her "Olga," which drew roars from the bench at the time.

"And I don't even know any Olgas," Donovan said.

This is the new Sun. A far more united group than in Donovan's first two seasons here. We'll leave whether there's cause-and-effect between newfound unity and the 3-1 record to the nearest shrink and people who call radio stations. But this much we know: Anne Donovan is a happy girl these days.

Any why not? Her team has won three straight, including Sunday's 82-64 victory over Atlanta at giddy Mohegan Sun Arena that produced a standing ovation from the crowd of 5,520. This is a team that is of Donovan, by Donovan and for Donovan. She put it together. And based on how her trades are working out, God may want to reconsider whether "Thou Shalt Not Steal" is such a bad thing.

Trade one: Alex Bentley for Kara Lawson, in a three-way deal with Matee Ajavon. Bentley is 10 years younger. She is the Sun's leading scorer. Lawson has battled injuries in Washington. Ajavon has done little in Atlanta.

Trade two: Camille Little and Shekinna Stricklen for Renee Montgomery. Little is the backbone here already. Stricklen made four 3-pointers Sunday. If her stroke remains consistent, the Sun have an invaluable offensive weapon.

Trade three: Jasmine Thomas for the 19th pick in the 2015 draft, Brittany Hrynko. Thomas is the starting point guard, averaging 10 points and nearly four assists per game. Hrynko is out of the league. And based on Sunday, when Atlanta handled the ball like an explosive, the Dream appear to need a point guard worse than Frank Burns needed Hot Lips Houlihan.

Trade four: Sandrine Gruda to Los Angeles for the 14th pick in the 2014 draft, which turned into Chelsea Gray. Gray is Lindsay Whalen Reincarnate. She made two passes during a 34-8 run in the first half Sunday that had stunned the crowd. (Remember: only former UConn players do such things).

Donovan was asked about the trades, given the absurdity of success to date:

"I appreciate you saying that," she told the inquiring mind. "Starting with Alex, to get her at that point, we didn't think Atlanta would even consider Alex. We were working on Jasmine. We ended up getting her later on. Bentley is our leading scorer and is going to be an all-star in the league.

"Stricklen and Little fill holes for us, besides the fact that they're both really good players, they filled specific needs. We didn't have a need for another point guard with Renee, so it was a no brainer.

"Jasmine for the 19th pick in the draft? The 19th pick was never going to make our team. We got our starting point guard.

"And getting Chelsea, that was Los Angeles' first-round pick. We knew if (Gruda) ever came to the league, it would be short-lived. So we've done all right for ourselves. We feel really good about how we've been able to rebuild and get young. We're one of the youngest teams in the league."

And now that dry sense of humor, seen only in driblets her first two years here, is alive and well.

"After Anne's first year here and last year she was still trying to see what kind of locker room she had," center Kelsey Bone said, following her 18 points Sunday. "I don't think it was anything personal that first year with her. It was just the situation. You play for somebody for so long than all of a sudden, they're gone. In the women's league, it's a little different. You can voice your opinion a little more.

"Last year, we were all new. She was trying to learn us and we were trying to learn her. I've seen a totally different person. She laughs more, smiles more and cusses us out more. She said something to us after the game (Thursday). She came in and was so excited about beating Chicago and how we played and said, 'starters, you've got tomorrow off.' I literally checked her temperature. I was like, 'who is this person? Are you OK?' She says this all the time: that 1-12, everyone in this locker room is on the same page. Now we've all taken a deep breath and are just kind of playing basketball."

And are playing for "Angie" Donovan.

"There's a lot that goes into building a team and I love it. It's like a chess match to try to find the piece and move the pieces around. So there's personalities I go seek that I know will be a good mix," Donovan said. "A lot goes into it other than positions, points and rebounds. We have a tremendous group. I couldn't be prouder of them. More so than the record, the vibe they give to each other. The way they play, who wouldn't love to see this team play? Besides the fact that everybody counted us out, how we play is the way the game needs to be played. I'm really proud of them."

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius