The Chicago Bulls had Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
The Golden State Warriors leaned on Steph Curry and Kevin Durant to get the job done.
In Prince George, Vova Pluzhnikov and Tyrell Laing were the dynamic duo every U SPORTS Canada West men’s basketball team wished they had.
They played their last home game for the T-wolves Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre, a game UNBC lost 89-69 to the Victoria Vikes, who used that victory to clinch first place in the West Division.
For five seasons over a six-year span, Laing and Pluzhnikov have worked in choreographed tandem, learning in practice how to feed off each other’s strengths to get the best out of each other in game situations with Pluzhnikov most often as the setup guy feeding Laing in open territory to create high-percentage looks at the net.
Now, with the Canada West playoffs about to begin this week, their time as brothers on the court is rapidly coming to an end.
“It’s super bittersweet for me,” said Laing. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to come to this program to leave my mark here and to fulfill a childhood dream of coming to play for the local UNBC Timberwolves and then ultimately setting some records I never would have thought, it’s special.
“Vova made my life so much easier than it would have been, freeing the floor up for me, finding me (with the ball), calling plays for me and ultimately playing an integral role for making me the all-time scorer here at UNBC.”
T-wolves head coach Todd Jordan took a chance on Pluzhnikov when he signed him without having seen him play in Canada and it worked out splendidly well. The native of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was a workhorse throughout his career and his leadership abilities kept team morale stoked and he brought out the best in his teammates, setting an example off the court as well with his willingness to take part in community events.
“It’s been a pleasure to coach him, he’s just a salt-of-the-earth guy and you’re always proud when at the end of a career you’ve got great people leaving the program,” said Jordan. “He’s our all-time Canada West leader in assists and he set a bar for our program.”
Pluzhnikov ranked fourth this season in Canada West with 76 assists in 17 games this season and finished his five-season regular career with 278 assists, breaking the old record of 213 set by James Agyeman.
“That’s something I’ll tell my kids, tell my family, something that will always stay with me,” said Pluzhnikov. ”I’m really proud of my time here and proud of all my connections and I’m happy with how this happened and happy to be here.
“I give all the credit to all the teammates I’ve had here and especially Ty, most of my assists went to him. No one could have written that better, that I got to share the backcourt with Ty. This is my home now and hopefully I’ll keep leaving my fingerprint all over this community. I hope I can help a lot of basketball players in this program and give back to this community.”
While Pluzhnikov was a bit of mystery when he arrived, Jordan knew exactly what he was getting when he plucked Laing out of the city high school ranks after years of watching him develop with the Prince George Polars. Laing took a couple seasons to get comfortable playing university-level basketball but his raw talent and willingness to put in the time to build his game turned him into a scoring sensation.
“For him to (win the scoring title) was incredible,” said Jordan. “If you had looked at the numbers at the end of Year 3, it didn’t look that likely he would get to that point. He’d been [laying behind a couple of guys (on the depth chart) the first couple years and was in and out as far as playing major minutes, but the last couple years after Jovan Leamy and James Agyeman graduated he took the bull by the horns and has become a great scorer for us.
“It’s just awesome to see a Prince George guy do that. To think a guy from this town would leads Canada West in scoring for a year, it’s incredible. It’s an unbelievable accomplishment and he has a lot to be proud of.”
Laing’s breakout season came in 2019-20, when he won the Canada West scoring crown while averaging 21.9 points per game. That came on the heels of his 9.6-point average in the 2018-19 season.
“Part of it was learning the defensive side of the game, part of it was that I was a younger guy and I had upper classmen playing ahead of me, so I had to kind of bide my time,” said Laing. “When my time came I was able to seize my opportunity and really make something happen with it.
“I was lucky enough to just be in a situation where I could burst on the scene and make that happen and I think that’s something I’ll never forget and that was probably the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
This season, picking up where he left off in 2020, Laing averaged 18.7 points (fourth in Canada West) and totaled 341 points (second in CW) for a career total of 1,280. That beat the old T-wolves’ all-time record of 1,178 set by Jay Gladish in 2008 when the T-wolves competed in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association.
Laing was also a stellar playmaker throughout his career and his 206 assists ranks third all-time at UNBC. Both were deadly from three-point range. Laing hit 40-of-111 with his three attempts this season for a career total of 156, second only the Marcus McKay’s 181. Pluzhnikov went 35-for-99 from three-point territory and finished with 148 in his career.
Two other T-wolves seniors on the men’s team, Rotash Mattu and Peyton Tirrell, and women’s team members Lucy Guan and Emma vanBruinessen, also played their last home game on Saturday, a 75-68 loss to Victoria.
The T-wolves men (6-12) finished fifth in the West Division and 10th overall in Canada West and will play the No. 17 Brandon Bobcats (2-14) in a one-game elimination playoff Thursday at 4 p.m. PT in Lethbridge. Whoever wins will play No. 6 Saskatchewan (11-5) Friday at 4 p.m.
The No. 10 UNBC women (8-10) were fourth in the West and will play their first playoff game Friday at 5 p.m. against No. 17 Brandon (0-16) in Calgary. The winner advances to a quarterfinal against the No. 8 Regina Cougars (8-8) Saturday at 5 p.m..
