There's a mental aspect to every game...being able to find your opponent's mental weaknesses is just as important as finding his physical ones. Your coach was right about using the "dumb big guy's" lack of self control against him and trying to goad him into making mistakes. Of course, that's working on getting your opponent to actually MAKE a mistake--a true aspect of competition--which isn't the same as faking a foul when you haven't actually been touched or rolling around in mock agony when you're not hurt. You're right, it's a way of saying "I'm smarter than you" when they get away with it--lately we've been seeing some officials saying, "No, actually, you're not!"
