NCAA tournament 2010: Md. forwards prepare to defend Houston guards

Houston, as you may have heard, is not afraid to shoot from the perimeter. And that goes for nearly all the Cougars. Seven members of their nine-man rotation have attempted more than 50 three-pointers this season.

While preparing for Houston's four-guard lineup this week, Maryland forwards Jordan Williams, Landon Milbourne and Dino Gregory spent some time during practice defending some of the team's guards, such as Cliff Tucker and Sean Mosley, so as to get a better feel for what it will be like when they have to defend the smaller lineup Houston likes to operate with.

Williams said he expects to be moving around in a much larger area of the court on defense Friday night. Gregory (6-foot-7) said he was preparing to defend a player like Houston reserve guard Adam Brown (6-foot-4), the Cougars' third-most prolific three-point shooter, who sometimes plays the four-spot (traditionally known as the power forward position).

"They play some four-guard sets out there, so I’ve got to be guarding guards some times," Gregory said. "I’ve just got to put a hand up out there and go out there. I can’t really stay in the paint as much as I want to."