First of all, Juulie, it's great to see you back in circulation. Still waiting for that email on that subject you mentioned about 2 weeks ago.
Now, as to situation one. Frankly, I had to think about this one. Yes, it's true the ball was never released (the NF terminology is "thrown") and that is part of the definition of a try. However, the NF also uses the theory that on a dunk, the player's hand can be touching the ball in the cylinder prior to release and it's not BI. Actually, I'm not sure my last statement there is relevant.
I think you can make a case there is a difference between a real try where the ball is thrown being short and the situation where the ball does not leave the shooter's hands and it is not because of a block by a defensive player.
Think of it this way. Is there any difference between the rim (or backboard, for that matter) preventing the release of the ball vs. a player just jumping, pushing the ball toward the hoop but never releasing it and then coming back down? You wouldn't rule the latter as a try because the ball was never released even though the shooter exhibited a shooting motion.
If I had to choose, I would say there's no difference. The latter is obviously traveling, so I would rule the former the same way.
Actually, I've never seen the rim stop a shot in that manner, but I think it would be cool to see.
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Yom HaShoah
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