6 on 6

[SoonerBounce13]

i heard about this kind of bball for the first time this morning. Seems kinda odd but fun at the same time. I guess schools use to have an option of 5 on 5 or 6 on 6?

 

[152219]

6 on 6 ended around '93 or so.

 

[AdaSooner]

Bounce, the six on six rules didn't apply to boys basketball. Girls high school hoops in this state used six on six rules for many years. A few other states did, too, but Oklahoma and Iowa were the last two states to abandon the rules. You're right, schools had the option to play five on five, but most of the schools I was familiar with opted to play six on six.

Games were played with three guards and three forwards on each end. Crossing or even stepping on the center court line when playing the ball was a violation. The officials I worked with back then hated girls six on six rules, because it was difficult to spot violations on the center line when the ball crossed from one half court into the other.

I'll add that six on six players generally had problems adjusting to full court rules in college, so Oklahoma kids were often at a disadvantage. Girls basketball fans loved the rules. It was not unusual to see a sizable percentage of the crowd in high school gyms leave after the girls games were over.

 

[IntenseDefense]

I really loved 6 on 6 girls basketball. The strategy was fun and it made watching women play basketball much more bearable, at least for me.

 

[sanguinetti]

i would have hated to play it, but watching the 6-6 games had it's own sort of interesting strategies. the 3-3 game on the O end looked a lot like some of the pick and roll stuff you saw come to prominence in the NBA in the 90's with Utah, Karl's Sonics team.

 

[SoonerBV]

I remember growing up that all the little league/rec league games were 5 on 5 until we reached 7th grade, which was the 1st year of school ball. All of us guys had no idea about 6 on 6, and it didnt change over until probably 1988ish. Even my mom had no idea they still played that way, which was how it was when she played. It seems like Coach Coale's first year at Norman High was right when the went to 5 on 5, at least at the big schools.

I had always heard the smaller schools, like class 2 and below continued to play 6 on 6 for a long time. Something about needing to wait until Bertha Teague retired or something. Of course, it's been twenty years. I might have made that last part up...

Anyway, I agree with the earlier poster about being at a disadvantage as far as playing at college. Those rules were pretty strange.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

so a quick wiki search said that only forwards could shoot the ball and you couldn't dribble unlimited. I would have hated to be a guard. I would have been fun to switch who could score each quarter

 

[IndySooner]

I really loved 6 on 6 girls basketball. The strategy was fun and it made watching women play basketball much more bearable, at least for me.

I grew up in Iowa, with the 6 on 6 rules for girls. It changed just as I was getting into high school.

Our school was one that most of the crowd would leave after the girls' game was over. It was pretty exciting basketball, really. Just a completely different game, higher scoring, etc. The really good scorers didn't have too much problem adjusting. In fact, some of C. Vivian Stringer's best players at Iowa came from the 6 on 6 game.

My dad coached 6 on 6 and swears that girls basketball fundamentals went out the door when it switched to 5 on 5.

 

[AdaSooner]

I really loved 6 on 6 girls basketball. The strategy was fun and it made watching women play basketball much more bearable, at least for me.

It was definitely interesting from a spectator's point of view. My observation above was to point out how most officials felt about the rules.

Six on six rules opened the door to girls who may not have been blessed with great ball handling or shooting skills, because it allowed them to focus their efforts on the guard end and still be part of the competition. Players who were defensive specialists were nearly as important as girls who could score. That's one of the things I liked about the rules, and I believe fans who attended those games felt the same way.

 

[IndySooner]

so a quick wiki search said that only forwards could shoot the ball and you couldn't dribble unlimited. I would have hated to be a guard. I would have been fun to switch who could score each quarter

3 dribbles. Guards on one end, forwards on the other. You couldn't cross half-court. Guards could switch and be forwards and vice-versa. But only on timeouts or substitutions, I believe.

It was very fast-paced. It wasn't unusual to see a good team score in the 100's.

 

[perryj74]

It was a much better game to watch in the smaller schools that's for sure. I don't know how many girls high school basketball games I have seen where they struggle to find 5 girls who can score the basketball.

There were a lot of arguments made about the pros and cons of the game and how those players translated into the college game. All I know is this, the high school I went to sent girls to play college basketball while playing 6 on 6 fairly often and since the move to 5on 5 not one girl has went on to play college ball.

 

[IndySooner]

It was definitely interesting from a spectator's point of view. My observation above was to point out how most officials felt about the rules.

Six on six rules opened the door to girls who may not have been blessed with great ball handling or shooting skills, because it allowed them to focus their efforts on the guard end and still be part of the competition. Players who were defensive specialists were nearly as important as girls who could score. That's one of the things I liked about the rules, and I believe fans who attended those games felt the same way.

Ada, especially at the small schools, where the talent pool wasn't great. Let's face it, boys grew up playing basketball from the age of 5. Girls, on the other hand, played dolls, with the exception of a few. At the small schools, that might be one girl with great basketball skills per class. She'd be your go-to forward.

When they went to 5 on 5, the quality of basketball, and the scoring, went down so far it was un-watchable. I'm sure it was different at the bigger schools.

 

[perryj74]

so a quick wiki search said that only forwards could shoot the ball and you couldn't dribble unlimited. I would have hated to be a guard. I would have been fun to switch who could score each quarter

There was no dribble rule in the late 80's early 90's. Basically the only difference between the two verisions were the number of girls on the court and the half court line violation.

It sure was an interesting game from strategy stand-point. I have seen games where neither team scored more than 10 points and I have seen the 100 point barrier broken on several occasions.

There was a rule that if you were behind you couldn't stall the basketball.

 

[AdaSooner]

I had always heard the smaller schools, like class 2 and below continued to play 6 on 6 for a long time. Something about needing to wait until Bertha Teague retired or something. Of course, it's been twenty years. I might have made that last part up...

You heard right. Bertha Frank Teague was the James Naismith of six on six basketball in this state. She built a dynasty as the girls basketball coach at Byng, a small school a few miles north of here. Her teams won eight state championships. She is still a legend in these parts.

For those who have never heard of Mrs. Teague, you might find this interesting:

http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=Bertha_Teague

 

[152219]

My sophomore year of high school (1992-1993), our girls played 1/2 of the season playing 6 on 6 and the other half playing 5 on 5. Very interesting year to say the least

 

[AdaSooner]

Ada, especially at the small schools, where the talent pool wasn't great. Let's face it, boys grew up playing basketball from the age of 5. Girls, on the other hand, played dolls, with the exception of a few. At the small schools, that might be one girl with great basketball skills per class. She'd be your go-to forward.

When they went to 5 on 5, the quality of basketball, and the scoring, went down so far it was un-watchable. I'm sure it was different at the bigger schools.

Excellent points, Indy. I doubt if a lot of those small schools would have even tried to build a team around the limited number of players with the skills necessary to compete in the full court back then. Yet, they could always find girls who were willing to work hard on the defensive end and still enjoy playing the game.

 

[campbest]

When this thread started, I thought it was a joke...but obviously that is not the case.

You all are old.

 

[T.Lemons]

I remember seeing Crystal Robinson from Atoka play 6 on 6 ball, 3 girls on the defensive end just wasn't enough to stop her.

 

[152219]

I remember seeing Crystal Robinson from Atoka play 6 on 6 ball, 3 girls on the defensive end just wasn't enough to stop her.

Yep...saw her in the state tournament her senior year. She was easily the best female basketball player I've ever seen. And we had some good ones in my hometown.

 

[playmakr]

Seems like a lot of congestion to me.

I remember at UIC we had to play 5 on 7 to work on beating a press, etc., and it was always so congested.