I ask for help at least once a game it seems. Always as the Lead on a play where the ball goes OOB on the C's side.

That's perhaps the best example of a situation where it can be very helpful to ask a partner for help. And that's easy to pre-game, so that the communication is seamless, during the game.

I've attended a camp the last couple of off-seasons that is staffed by NBA personnel (strictly a teaching camp; I am in no way , shape, or form in the NBA pipeline). Marc Wunderlich says one for things he looks from a Slot official is if he is prepared to give help on OOB calls on the end line on his half of the court. He wants the Slot to take a step towards the end line and looking at the Lead to see if the Lead needs help. He says it is one of the intangibles that tells him an official is always engaged.

Excellent advice. Several times this past season, the C in our HS crew stepped towards my L position, ready to assist on such OOB plays. When I had the correct call, our eye contact served to enhance the confidence we had among our crew. And, on a few other occasions, when I needed help, it was available, because the C had info regarding an early touch by a player in his area, and, as you said, he was engaged, to the point of being able to give assistence, when/if needed.

Oh no! It happened again....
 

Whistle at 15:51 second half, Duke vs. Gonzaga, South Regional Final.

C comes running in with information on an endline OOB play. L decides to accept the information and change the call. But coming out of the under-16 timeout, a CBS replay shows clearly that the L had the call correct, even if he was probably guessing based on the percentages.

When the offense has the ball in the front court and it mysteriously ends up OOB on the endline, usually it's because a defender poked it out. C thought he was 100% sure the Gonzaga player just coughed it up. That was bad information and a bad reversal.

I'm a fan of passing information when I have it. But I have to be 110% sure when I do. And I can kind of understand the opinion of others in this thread who choose not to come in with information on this type of play. You can kind of understand why based on this play.

I don't remember the last time I went in for unsolicited help. I'm almost never looking in the area -- and even if I am I have a poor angle -- so I generally will assume I missed something. The exception is when I am C and the ball goes out baseline on my side. I'll wait longer to see if the L asks for help, but if he takes it in not going in unless it is a gross miss.

One thing I've noticed some officials do in that situation is start running down the other court as if to say, "It's white ball going the other way." I don't like this practice as it requires the official to leave the players early and turn away from the action to quickly. I'm just mentioning it because it is one of my pet peeves. If you do this, consider what you might be missing. Rather than bailing, step down and be prepared to offer help.

So what? Can the official not turn his head to continue to watch the players?