[crazy voyager]

I never blew a whistle to start the play, only to stop it. That's what the book says too.
"The offcials shall call a whistle each time the play must be stopped due to violations against rules or playtime ending."
something like that, never to start a quarter, game, play, anything.
Only exception:
You call 1 minute, 3 minutes, 1:30 (In FIBA) before period starts to alert players.
You call for 10 seconds left of time out. That's the only time you blow for something else, and then the play is allready stopped.

this rule works too:
Blow the whistle- ball must go to official before being played again. Once the ball is in a players hand, it's in play.