Agree with everything you said, and, from what I can see on TV CTG has been really good with the refs. He gets hot, but not too hot. And he seems to know when getting completely demonstrative is counterproductive. I'd be terrible at that last part!
I think you post has merit but I would put it differently. Saving your firm complaints to when there are obvious errors should be a profitable approach no matter who you are as a coach.
I was thinking this as well after that last game. We keep getting shafted by the refs and I have no doubt that Golden’s constant complaining about every single call during every game is doing him and the team no favors. You have to pick your battles to get credibility with the refs.
My sons middle school (and now JV) coach played 2 years for Tony Yates at Cincinnati (before Higgins). He has a great approach. During a stoppage, he asks the refs what they saw. And they asks them to look for this or that. He generally ends it with a joke and a pat on the back. He says he never really saw it work at any level, so he is doing it different. They appreciate him not showing them up and actually take him seriously. Several calls have gone our way because of this method. It also teaches the young kids to play the game and not focus on the coach/ref dynamic. Would that work at the college level where you have to compete against the yelling opposition coach? No clue.