The NFHS manual can not, and will not cover all situations. But even in the manual it states:

The phrase "it's not my area" isn't one I'm interested in hearing as a supervisor. As a coach, I'm even less inclined to listen to it.

I've been at camps where I was the guy saving the crew. The clinician is still pissed, but mainly because the primary didn't put a whistle on it and he's questioning his judgment / ability.

I've also passed on something when I didn't feel I had the best look. Best response there is to be silent and hope you don't get yelled at, too. Not the best position to be in.

On the play we are discussing here, I agree this would be a poor explanation. However, your second sentence makes me laugh. I don't have any problem saying you are asking the wrong guy or worse when a dumbass coach asks me about a play outside of the top of the key when I am the L in a 3 man game. Truthfully, how the **** would I know what is happening out there.

It's much different to say, "I was looking elsewhere" than "That's not my area."

+1.

This is a very poor post.
Plenty of rebounding fouls occur while the ball is in flight on the way to the basket as players attempt to obtain the best possible position in case of a miss.
AremRed has a legitimate point. Both are important and officials must make a choice about where to look and when. Deciding when to help and when to focus on one's primary is one of the difficulties faced by higher level officials.

Play happened this weekend in camp !!!!
 

Both observers ( combined 155 D1 games this year ) insisted that the L needs to make a call on this play. Get wide enough take a peek as the shot goes up and be prepared to blow.

Think how foolish it looks, as you are standing 3 ft from the play and you don't blow because of "potential" post problems !!! BALONEY !!!

As the C, I will be all over the rebouding coverage, knowing that my L is "helping the trail " for a split second.

This post I think ties it all together. Coverage area is a guideline. If all ten player are on one side of the court and t and L are over there, does that mean that because the C has no one in their coverage area that he or she can just quit refereeing for a bit until some one crosses the magic line back into the C's area? Of course not. I think a big part of coverage area is match ups.

If I have four players in my PCA, two of which are bodie up fighting for position and two who aren't doing anything, who am I going to watch? The two bodied up.
In the play referenced in the OP, C has an important job and. That would be any match ups that era closest to him. It is Very unlikely in this play that anyone opposite the ball across the court would be doing anything that would warrant full attention. It is very likely that the nearest active match ups for C would be the impending rebounding action under the basket. That is where C should be helping out so T and L can cover their closest match ups. This play, just like any play, takes all three officials to do properly. They all need game awareness and full court awareness to everyone know what everyone is watching all of the time. Just my 2 cents.

Exactly. The C is more than capable of helping with the rebounding action if the Lead is looking away for a second.

I sometimes teach that if the ball is in your PCA, you have the matchup that includes the ball. The other two officials divide the other four matchups up -- each taking the two that are closest to him / her (with adjustments when that "math" doesn't quite work out).

It's not a rule -- but it does help get the point across.

And, everyone needs to be *aware* of the ball and that match-up.

The issue, of course, is that one big-dog will think contact is big enough to get from across the court, and another will see the same contact and say to leave it alone.

I hope if i have to work with you in two weeks that you will be a great "help" official !!!!:D:D:D