Quote right from Rule Book

"it is not legal to extend the arms fully or partially in a position other than vertical so that the freedom of movement of an opponent is hindered when contact with the arms occurs"

i get that many times thru out games arms are extended and such contact is made, example: defenders locating cutters etc, but when its done in the open court or on ball screens how is this incidental?

So if I was a coach, and i see a defender contacting my player in this manner. Is it worth discussing with an official or am I wasting my energy?

Defenders do it to hinder the opponents movement. If it didn't help them, they wouldn't do it.

Are you a coach, player, official, or fan? If you have a high school rule book, look in rule four for "incidental contact."

If the contact isn't hindering anything, it's not a foul. Whether it's hindering anything is up to the judgment of the official, and judging by his statement you seem to have overheard, he didn't think it created an advantage.

I am a fan, just trying to become more educated and glad I found this forum. I understand the incidental/judgement call i guess but isnt the rule i stated earlier being disregarded? I guess IMO, an open court blatant stiff arm to an opponent sure looks bad and should be something. A Warning/Foul, a "hey kid, knock it off" thanks for input gentlemen, always nice to hear diff POV

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You seem to have taken the question as I intended it, but I wanted to clarify anyway. I didn't ask to denigrate your opinion, only to understand your perspective.

Whether it looks bad is often unrelated to whether it is illegal, and officials aren't (or shouldn't be) concerned with whether a play looks bad. Most of us are having a hard time envisioning a game where this is happening multiple times, with an advantage gained, and no call being made.

In the end, it's up to the official's judgment whether it created an advantage or not. If the official deems the contact isn't creating an advantage, then the rule you quoted earlier is not being disregarded, it's being judged differently than you think it should. There's a difference.

Without seeing video, though, it's impossible for us to judge.