Mohegan — OK. Old referee joke:

“Two WNBA refs were walking through the countryside and noticed some tracks. The first said, ‘Deer tracks?' ‘No,’ replied the second, ‘Bear tracks.’ The conversation ended abruptly when the train hit them.”

(Sorry, couldn’t resist).

But we were reminded of it Wednesday night when they only called 48 fouls at Mohegan Sun Arena, trying to turn a basketball game into a tractor pull. The Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky combined to attempt 53 free throws, all but hijacking the notable attempts of both teams to run, shoot 3s and be entertaining. But then, it’s the WNBA. As former Sun assistant Scott Hawk liked to say back in the day, “Expect the officiating is going to be lousy and you can only be pleasantly surprised.”

There was one of the 48 calls, however, that ruffled new Sun coach Curt Miller, a man who seems to have more energy than United Illuminating. Miller charged the court in the direction of official Tiara Cruse. If Miller got any closer, Cruse might have been awarded free throws.

Boom.

Technical.

In a preseason game.

Call this foreshadowing.

You’re going to like this guy, folks.

“It says everything that anybody who has ever had a conversation with him since he’s been hired already knows,” Sun center Kelsey Bone said. “He told us before the game he’ll probably lead the league in techs and he’ll have a lot of fines. He got mad because (the officials missed) the same call on the other end. You appreciate that. If he’s like that in a preseason game, what happens in a regular season game? It’s exciting.”

Sure is. The themes around the Sun this season are “new” and “different.” There’s nothing newer and more different than a head coach who does passion as habit. And with a young, exciting team and the penchant for officials to exasperate, Miller will be worth the price of admission himself this summer.

“I liked the technical. A lot. He’s fighting for us,” Alex Bentley said. “We don’t have to argue with the refs or worry about them making the right or wrong calls. He’s in their ears. Glad he’s taking care of it. And I like his fire. I like his passion. He just feeds it to us.”

Miller’s passion is mostly positive, too. He’ll yell at his players when they deserve it. He’ll yell at the officials when they deserve it. Generally, though, he encourages, enlivens and energizes. He tells his players: listen to the message, not the tone. Although the message and tone to Ms. Cruse was entirely appropriate.

“I was a little bit demonstrative, asking for the same call that happened at the other end,” Miller said. “I didn’t curse. Usually I wouldn’t have gotten that in college. I’ve got to figure that out. I’m going to always fight for our players. I was a little demonstrative and I deserved it.”

It should be noted that after the technical, which happened in the third period, the Sun scored seven straight points. Bentley made an immediate 3-pointer and pointed to Miller on the bench.

If this is an indication of what we’ll see this summer, the Sun will be a fun watch. Miller’s animation, combined with his approach — if you’re open, shoot it — and maybe it’s a good idea to bet the over. Even Bone, a traditional post player, attempted, and made, a 3 during Wednesday’s 84-81 victory.

“I have the yellow light (to shoot 3s) going to the green, one or two here and there,” Bone said. “It’s really far. I don’t know how they do that all the time. It makes your arm hurt. He’s like green and I’m like yellow.”

But the best part of the night was when Curt Miller saw red. He sent a message to his players, bosses and the fans that the new sheriff in town will be conducting business differently than we’ve seen. Sun fans should be weeping tears of joy.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro.