Yes, I agree that we are a team out there and should protect our partner. But Rocky said the coach was "screaming across the court" at his partner. My thought was that his partner obviously heard this and it is his time to step up.
Maybe it is just me, but I want strong partners, I just don't need a babysitter out there.
I would be embarrassed if someone had to give a T FOR me!

Nevadaref,
You want a strong partner.
Well, dj's partner had one.
dj's partner whacked that coach in a blink... before dj's partner could react. That is a strong partner.

Yer not gonna ask your "strong partner" to wait and see if you hear something first. ;)
mick

Generally speaking, I agree with your observation. However, there are cases were a "partner" can embarass you by their short fuse.

I had a game last year were my partner T'd the visiting coach (who is also a respected official) for no apparent reason. The incident occured just before half, so I asked my partner what precipitated the T. His only response to me was, "He knows what it was for." It was obvious that he did not want to talk about it anymore. It was not a good "partnership" and it did not have surprised me if he flippantly "awarded" a T for his personal issues outside the game. He appeared to be irratable, period.

I was at the scorer's table just before the start of the second half and the visiting coach approached me in a diplomatic, low-key manner. And asked "What did I do?" I felt totally awkward not being able to respond.