Yeah, Mark Few is a very tough match-up for Calipari. Cal's teams, as we all know, always depended on athleticism to overwhelm teams, but struggled with teams who approached the game from a more cerebral standpoint or are able to make in-game adjustments and whose teams are disciplined defensively and able to shut down straight line drives or defend opponents' 3pt shooters. In other words, Few usually presented a problem for Calipari, which is why UK now stands at 1-2 versus Gonzaga. Last season was perhaps the greatest example of Cal's struggles with someone like Few. UK was clearly the more talented team in that game, but Few found a weakness (high pick and rolls) and mercilessly took advantage of it, and Calipari couldn't adjust and fix it until it was too late.
So, the question now becomes, "can Mark Pope match wits and find a way to beat Mark Few?" I'd say Pope can match wits with anyone. But does UK have the same athletic and talent edge this time? I'd say it's closer this time but UK still has the edge, but we're gonna have to develop chemistry, which is something Gonzaga already has. I'm glad that game isn't any earlier. It will give this UK team a chance to find that chemistry before December 7.
