I have a buddy who gives verbal warnings that the entire gym can hear. He'll turn to his partners and loudly say "Blue coach has been warned".

OTOH, some official's coordinators / assigners want the stop sign so that it shows up on the tape. I've used the stop sign, and I've not used the stop sign, according to what felt right during any particular situation.

I agree with this. Now if someone who is into numbers and human interaction can come up with the percentages, we can determine how often the stop sign should be used versus talking to a coach.

I agree that film can make an official look bad when giving a technical foul. For this reason, I often suggest keeping a distance from a coach who is exhibiting behavior that could earn a T. If I'm close to a coach, they will more than likely not get a T. When they are doing something to earn a T, I would like to think it is obvious to everyone in the facility.

My public disdain for the stop sign does not include the example above. I just don't like the robotic use of the stop sign like it is number 2 in a procedure that must be followed every time.

I used a stop sign...well sorta
 

I gave a modified stop sign last night.

Assistants from home team kept commenting/questioning (while seated of course) about calls/non-calls early in the game. But the comments weren't necessarily directed at either me or my partner. Just more or less trying to draw attention. However, about midway through the 1st quarter I was trail directly in front of the bench and all of sudden I hear a bunch of mostly unintelligible jibberish behind me.

Without directing my eyes in their direction, I slightly turned my outside shoulder towards them and put my arm out at a 45degree angle from my side and pushed my palm towards the ground. I don't know how long I held my stop sign, but I was laughing to myself and thinking about the forum when I did it. :p

I think the ASSistants got the hint b/c I didn't hear anything from them the rest of the game. :D

has anyone considered using a yield sign or even a pedestrian crossing sign? these could be effective ways of communicating that you have had enough