Mohegan — I know what you're thinking.

You are thinking Dennis Green. The old football coach, who was vexed after a loss one night and began screaming, "They are who we thought they were!" to reporters in reference to that night's opponent.

The same line applies to what fans of the Connecticut Sun are thinking today about their team.

They are who we thought they were.

As in: Not very good.

The seven-game win streak of June: mirage.

The four straight losses: They are who we thought they were.

Maybe they are. Long way to go. But even as exasperating as Tuesday's 85-79 loss to Minnesota felt, I'm not ready for Dennis Green yet. They're not who we thought they were. They are better. Really. They're just in a part of the schedule that would cause heartburn for everybody else, too.

The last three games: Chicago, Chicago, Minnesota. The league's two most talented teams. They've had to endure Elena Delle Donne, Cappie Pondexter, Courtney Vandersloot, Allie Quigley, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen and Rebekah Brunson, among others. Quite a list of Most Valuable Player candidates, Olympians, shooters, veterans, champions.

This just in: Connecticut isn't nearly as talented. Chicago's talent level, even without Sylvia Fowles, suggests its record should be well north of its current 8-5. Minnesota is perhaps the favorite to win the WNBA championship, starting three Olympians. Los Lynx are certainly the league's smartest team.

They tortured the Sun at times Tuesday night, to the dismay of 6,246 fans, including the President and First Lady of women's basketball, Geno and Kathy Auriemma. And yet the Sun wiped out a 14-point deficit in the second half, took the lead and remained competitive — although not particularly smart — till the end.

Minnesota's greatest strength is perhaps the ability to expose carelessness. The Sun turned it over twice in the last three minutes, trailed by eight, cut it to three and then committed two hideous fouls that doomed them.

"We had two turnovers at the end that absolutely killed us," Sun coach Anne Donovan said. "Our late-game execution wasn't so great. We looked like a young team at the end of the game that didn't have chemistry. Including me. The away-from-the-ball foul isn't something I knew. I didn't know that under a minute to go, they go to the free throw line. That foul by (Kelsey) Bone, that's on me."

Donovan alludes to a foul in the final 15 seconds. The Sun trailed by three. Before Minnesota inbounded the ball, Bone committed an off-the-ball foul, with no time elapsing. The WNBA — but not the NCAA — rule gives the shooting team a free throw and possession of the ball.

ESPN commentators Doris Burke, Rebecca Lobo and Kara Lawson talked about the rule at the Final Four in Tampa, essentially wondering why more college teams don't take advantage. No time elapses and you essentially get to foul a bad free throw shooter.

No such rule in the WNBA, however.

Kudos to Donovan for her honesty, but it goes without saying she — or someone on her staff — should have been aware.

Still, the Sun's inability to get a defensive rebound at 80-77 set up the entire scenario.

This was a night of empty possessions, head-scratching turnovers and failure to make that one, winning play what felt like 100 times. Minnesota makes you play that way.

"They had great players step up," Donovan said. "It was all Maya and Seimone at the end of the game and we didn't have an answer for them. But overall, I don't walk away from this thinking we're in trouble. We're coming out of Chicago already on our heels defensively and now we get the most powerful perimeter in the league by far. Maya, Seimone and Lindsay are Olympians for a reason."

Not that the Sun's next three games are against Providence, East Carolina and SMU. Not by a lot. But New York, Indiana and Washington lessen the degree of difficulty somewhat. Tina Charles, Tamika Catchings and Emma Meesseman are handfuls. But at least they're not joined by an absurd number of Olympic teammates.

They are who we thought they were?

Not yet. They're 7-5. Which is better than 5-7.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.

Twitter: @BCgenius