Regular Season Game 5 co-MVPs: Keith Langford, Khimki, and Aleks Maric, Partizan

Week 5 was so exciting that it generated two MVPs, both of them newcomers to the Euroleague this season! Aleks Maric of Partizan Belgrade and Keith Langford of Khimki Moscow Region posted performance index ratings of 38 each to share the Week 5 MVP honor while leading their teams to very big victories. Before a sold-out crowd in Belgrade that hailed him as a new star, Maric used a monster double-double of 23 points and 15 rebounds to propel Partizan to an 86-80 comeback upset over Olympiacos in Group B. Maric added 5 steals, an assist, a block and 8 fouls drawn to amass his 38 index rating. Not to be outdone, Langford overcame a quiet start to lead Khimki to an 89-67 home win against Asseco Prokom Gdynia and keep pace with two other Group D leaders. Langford finished with 20 points on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting while also collecting 9 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal and 9 fouls drawn. The home crowd of the reigning champions welcomed back a friend as veteran Mike Batiste, injured until now, led Panathinaikos to a 96-63 home win against EWE Baskets Oldenburg. Batiste's index rating of 33, the week's third best, was based on his 25 points on 9-of-11 two-pointers, 6 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn. Aleksandar Rasic, who led Partizan with 25 points against Olympiacos, came next with a 31 index rating, fourth-best this week. Two more big winners - Sani Becirovic of Union Olimpija and Maciej Lampe of Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv - had index ratings of 30 each to tie for the fifth-best individual performances this week.

Individual highs: Langford, 9 assists

Batiste and Rasic were the Game 5 top scorers each with 25 points. Despite not playing this week. Matt Walsh of Union Olimpija stays as the regular season best scorer at 24.5 points per game. Maric led all rebounders by pulling down 15 boards against Olympiacos. Travis Watson of Zalgiris remains the competition's best rebounder at 10.2 per night. Langford dished 9 assists - more than anyone this week - while Omar Cook of Unicaja is the new overall assists leader at 6.6 per game. Maric and Morris Finley of AJ Milano each collected 5 steals in this round. Ibby Jaaber of Lottomatica Roma leads the regular season in steals, with 2.8 on average. Six players - Stanko Barac of Caja Laboral, Josh Childress of Olympiacos, Carlos Jimenez of Unicaja, Darjus Lavrinovic of Real Madrid, Slavko Vranes of Partizan and Fran Vazquez of Regal FCB - had 2 blocks apiece. D'or Fisher of Maccabi Electra averages that many and ranks first overall in blocks. Maric was the only player to register a double-double in this round. Langford was one assist shy while Marko Skecic of Oldenburg - 9 points, 14 rebounds - barely missed it, too.

Press release: Euroleague Basketball