Inadvertent whistles are nefarious. They happen when you anticipate something happening, lose your patient whistle, and react before you actually see and process everything. They happen a lot more than you think. Phantom fouls are really inadvertent whistles, you just don;t always realize they were because you guessed and/or anticipated.
You also very rarely see an inadvertent whistle identified and fessed up to during games. Why? Because referees don't know they did it, as described above, or they would be too embarrassed to admit it and administer it. If that is the case, get over yourself. It's a good way to build credibility, believe it or not, and sometimes can minimize the damage caused by them.
How do I know this? I've been there, done that, and seen the mistakes on film. Three years ago, I was the C and the shot clock was about to expire. A terrible flip towards the basket that had no chance of drawing iron was aimlessly flying out of bounds. Shot clock was less than 1. As the buzzer sounded, being alert and as greatly aware as I am, I hit the whistle and tapped the top of my head. Problem was, some offensive player jumped up, reached way out, and somehow redirected the ball towards the basket. Guess what? It grazed the rim. And I was standing right in front of the offensive team's coach (darn second half). "It hit the rim!" he screamed. I knew he was right, and I asked for help from the T, who said it did not hit the rim. The coach was still chapped, and I said, "I think you're right, I anticipated it, and think I blew it. We're going to just go the other way," and we implemeted the shot clock violation, giving the ball to the other team. The other coach loved it, "Great call, it didn't hit the rim." I started wondering if my call was correct, but didn't feel like it was. End of game, the L said it did noth it the rim. I asked someone in the hallway on the way out of the locker room, who said it did not hit the rim. Got in the car, and my wife, who knows little about basketball, told me it hit the rim. That's when I knew 100% I blew it. The film later confirmed it. No damage was done, but I thought about how I could have fixed it. The answer: Inadvertent whistle. Could have gone to the arrow, and the offensive team would have kept the ball. Could have also said that the offensive team controlled the tip after it grazed the rim, so POI give it to offense. Admitting my mistake would have allowed me to attempt to mitigate the negative consequences levied against the offense. I vowed to never be afraid to call inadvertent again.
Earlier this year, working 4th grade girls (yeah, a big big favor to a good friend), one team was blue and one team was purple. Loose ball, frantic and crappy pursuit by several players. Kind of lost track of which team was which and who was going which direction...and I called an over-and-back based on the offensive team being the last to touch...and realized I got it wrong. I right away called inadvertent, went to the arrow, and got on with the game. The defensive team got the ball based on the arrow--so my inadvertent still hurt a team unjustly, but at least they gained the arrow back, and my proclamation of "my bad" did not get screamed at. I was kind of proud of myself to have learned and implemented this lesson.
Think of hypotheticals. Scrambling for a loose ball in a close game, no team gets possession, but a referee guesses visually, reacts to a coach/player yelling for a timeout, and grants one. You know the film will show that the team did not have possession. The crew can discuss inadvertent whistle. It the R has stones, he can and will make that call, and try and fix the damage. Still a lot of variables, but these situations can and do happen, and can ruin a game if done at the wrong time.
Inadvertent whistles happen. We all have the "Oh s&*t!" moments when we hear a whistle we wish we could immediately take back. Acknowledging it, and being quick enough to decide whether inadvertent whistle is the right call will help you be a better official. Of course, if you do it 5 times a game, you're dead meat. But on rare occasions, it can be a crew's good friend. Hope this gets in your toolbox.
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