[drothamel]

Every coach is different, and every official is different. On both sides of the lines, people have different tolerance levels, and different abilities to communitcate. For me, I prefer to try and work with the coaches as much as I can, and let them know where the line is. I let them know once they have gotten close to the line, and I make sure to let them know once they have crossed it.

I think that one thing many officials are not aware of is how their communication with one coach may affect the other coach in a game. You can't go talking to team A's coach every time down the floor and not expect the team B's coach to get a bit paranoid about it. Then, because the official is getting tired to hearing from team A's coach, his tolerance level is reached, and he whacks team B's coach as soon as he says something.

Body language, consistency within a crew, table mechanics, etc. All of these things contribute to the atmosphere within a game. You can either use them to create an atmosphere of control, or you can really mess things up. It is extremely important to be aware of how all of your actions are perceived by coaches and players. More awareness on the part of an official will often lead to less situations that require T's.