Dead Ball Dunk: To "T" or not to "T"?

[crosscountry55]

My games have been devoid of interesting situations this season but I finally had one tonight. A1 (big man) receives the ball at the free throw line with a clear path to the basket ahead of him. Just as he takes his one and only dribble in what will clearly be a dunk, T calls an illegal screen on A2. A1 continues the motion that he had started with the dribble, takes two big steps, and dunks the dead ball. Not a tomahawk bring-the-house-down kind of dunk, but a very soft dunk.

Sure, the ball was dead. I was C and I got together with L to discuss while T was reporting the foul on A2. We thought that A1 probably could have heard the whistle and stopped, but we gave him the benefit of the doubt and did not assess a T. Also, in hindsight (just thought about this while I was typing), what's to say that A1, who's eyes were fixed on the basket, knew that the foul behind him was on the offense? What if it had been on the defense? He'd have a right to his continuous motion. Why give that up if you're not sure of the reason for the whistle?

So....I think we handled it right (more so in hindsight), but it was weird in the moment and I thought good for a discussion here.