Freshmen Game Follies ...
 

Second half. White player at the line for one free throw, with ball at his disposal. Blue head coach (young enough to have started shaving yesterday) requests a timeout. I, as trail, ignore. Another louder request follows. I ignore, but start worrying about a possible distraction, by either the coach yelling, or by me forced to yell, "No" (which I didn't do). I didn't want to sound my whistle to take the ball away for the shooter to explain to the coach. At the same time an ignorant White fan (not a big crowd) yells for a technical foul, (not sure for the illegal request, or for the distraction). Luckily, the kid buries the free throw.

Young grasshopper Blue head coach also wanted a foul on a defender's hand incidentally slapping his dribbler's hand while dribbling the basketball. Seemed dumbfounded when I explained to him the concept of incidental contact in such situations.

Good news. He was polite and well mannered throughout the game.

Veteran officials have often lamented that officials get older while the players stay the same age. Well add to that the officials get older while the coaches stay the same age (or get younger).

You could (and should, imo) have acknowledged the request without shouting "no" -- maybe, for example -- making eye contact with the coach, pointing at the shooter, and mouthing the word "no" (if you weren't wearing a mask) or shaking your head.

Other ways are possible, I'm sure.

Stop! In The Name Of Love (The Supremes, 1965) ...
 

Tried (twice) putting my hand up like a "weak" stop sign. Didn't work.

My Brain Hurts ...
 

Didn't want to give the Blue head coach what he (illegally) wanted. Sounding my whistle to stop White's free throw before he shot would have resulted in a dead ball and the young grasshopper Blue head coach would have gotten his request for a timeout granted. A lot was going in my brain during this situation, too much for the situation, a simple free throw. White fan yelling "Technical foul" didn't help. Much relief when White buried the free throw.

Coaches (and Varsity level players) who do not know the more basic rules of the game is a pet-peeve of mine. I'll give your blue guy a pass since he's young enough to be your grandson, but he better brush up on the live ball/dead ball and timeout sections.

Coaches as educators need to be responsible for relaying that information down to their players and holding themselves accountable for knowing these rules and situations. And I'm not asking them to know how to repair the car, but they should have a good idea about how to drive it.