My take:
In isolation, complaining to your assistants, means nothing. Every coach does it. But they don't do it a lot. Just on occasion. I don't know if he does it a lot or not. I don't know you can conclude one way or another without being in the arena. On TV, kind of hard. If a coach is doing it all the time, it suggests to me some insecurity, feeling the need to spread blame around, finding excuses.
As far as being embarrassing, just don't see it. Useless, yes. Embarrassing, no. I still remember watching the first game live when Carmody was the coach. His constant shrugs to his assistants looked to melike a useless exercise. But not an embarrassing one.
Most coaches direct their issues at the referees themselves. Because that puts pressure on them. Kind of like the home court bias. Might not be conscious, but a coach's pressure might swing a call one way or another. If this was not a thing, coaches would not do it. And they all do. To one extent or another, they all do. I kind of wish the NCAA would crack down on it, like they are doing with flopping. Because it seems an unfair advantage for some coaches who, by virtue or status, get away with a lot more than others. It often feels more like an act than anything else. Let me look really pissed off, even if I am not, cause that looks more like I feel so incredibly cheated that the next 50/50 call will go my way.
