Rule of thumb: Go wherever you need to go to ref the play.
If you need to go high because it's a spread, then go high. If you need to step up, step up. Step down when you need to. When I have a partner who tells me something like your partner did, my response is "I got a very good angle on that drive by stepping higher. Did that create some kind of problem for you?" Usually works quite well.
As far as stepping down towards baseline on shots or rebounding - I really dislike that personally. I have found that stepping up and stepping out onto the court gives me a much better angle between the shooter and defender or between rebounders on my weak side. But it's all personal preference. If I was 6'6", I would probably be able to get good angles by stepping down. I'm not, so I don't.
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