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Gotta love those rivalry games.
I think you should have called it if the coach broke the rule (BTW, I am not an official).
I've heard a few folks mentioning the phrase "gaining advantage", but I think that phrase is misplaced.
I'll give you personal example to illustrate where I am coming from.
I was playing golf in my club's championship tournament this summer, and one of my tee shots ended up in the rough on a rock.
There was a sprig of grass between the ball and the rock, and when I addressed the ball, the ball moved about a 1/4" from its original position, although it remained on the rock.
I went ahead and hit the shot (about 20 feet back into the fairway).
I gained no advantage from the ball moving, but I broke the rule, because I was to replace the ball under penalty of one stroke.
Since I went ahead and hit the shot, there was a two-stroke penalty for breaching the rule.
No one was around to see what happened, and I had to call the penalty on myself.
I know golf is not basketball, but the principle is the same.
If a rule is broken, then a penalty should be assessed...regardless of the situation, and regardless of the outcome.
It occurs to me that the only protection from criticism an official has the Rule Book. I would think that if one consistently whistled all rules breaches, two things would happen:
1) Teams would learn to not break the rules;
2) No one would be able to question his/her motivation/integrity.
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