Had a live one yesterday

[Dan_ref]

Mike, as you know by now assistants get *zero* warning,
and that means zero. Not a bad idea to go to the head coach
and tell him that he needs to control his bench, but after
that whack 'em! The problem at these games is many of the
coaches are kinda new and they act like they just
graduated the Bob Knight School of Basketball Etiquette
and Charm. The good ones eventually get how the system
works, the bad ones usually don't stick around long enough.
(Unfortunately not always.) And to make it worse
the basketball is usually not good at all and you'll end
up taking heat for the general lack of skills. You know:
"Let 'em play" to "Blow the whistle" and everything in
between.

It's good that your trying both sides of the coin, being a hard ass and being a diplomat. Soon enough you'll settle into what's right for you.