I've done it also, in a "real" game... as a matter of fact, twice this season already.
First time, championship game of Thanksgiving tourney between two rivals. Called a block on the home team who were down by 2 at the time with 5 seconds to go in the game. V1 is going to the line for double bonus. H1 (the fouler) forcefully puts the ball down in the middle of the lane. I'm standing on the endline to administer the FTs and tell all the players that someone needs to get the ball. H2 picks it up, hands it to me and apologizes. H1 comes over, looks at the ball, gives it a little hit while I'm holding it against my chest. Blew the whistle and I'm prepared to hit him with a T. I walked to the bench, told the coach I needed a sub for H1, then turned (in a now hushed gym) and loudly told H1 he needed to have a seat as he was being subbed for. The place went nuts
. I liked this solution because a T didn't decide the action, the game moved quickly to the end AND H1 was dealt with later by his coach.
Second time, last Saturday, JV boys. Visiting team is getting blown off the court (final score something like 129 - 19) and this kid's not real happy with how the game is going or how the whistles are going. I'd already cautioned him once earlier to play ball and keep quiet about the whistles but.... in the 2nd quarter, I'm T on FT admin and he's just muttering and staring, etc. I sidled up to him as they are lining up for FTs and asked him if he was going to settle down. I didn't like his answer, so I told the coach to get a sub in for him. He sat the rest of the first half.
I'm not saying this applies in every or even most cases. But I like the 2 times I used it this year.