I think that there needs to be a balance between the overly quick whistle at any suggestion of contact and the holding a whistle until somebody gets mugged. I don't like it if a ref calls a slight brush that fails to impact the play as a foul (unless we are trying to foul
). I also don't like it if you make pretty serious contact but the offense manages to retain the ball so the ref passes on the foul call. It really does come down to experience and judgment.
On the defensive side, royalcoach, I always tell my players to be sure they have the ball when all is said and done. If my player has the ball, we either have a foul or a steal. And they are making a play for the ball, which usually avoids an intentional call, even if in getting the ball they clearly had to foul. On the other hand, if they fail to get the ball and fail to get the foul, we have a loss. So I coach to get the ball and the rest takes care of itself.