Basketball Champions League, Gameday 6 MVP: Arnas Butkevicius

Butkevicius recorded a triple-double against PAOK, becoming just the second player in the Basketball Champions League to do so. Chris Kramer had pulled off the feat on January 11 earlier this year while playing for EWE Baskets Oldenburg in a win over Muratbey Usak Sportif.

The performance, not surprisingly, has led to Butkevicius being named as the Gameday 6 Player of the Week.

The fact that Butkevicius, who has been so reliable and such a protagonist this season for Neptunas that he's been included in Lithuania's squad for the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, hails from Klaipeda definitely made the occasion all the sweeter for him, the fans and even his teammates, who ran immediately to him and gave him bear hugs after he collected his 10th assist in the last seconds of the game. Butkevicius also had 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Butkevicius, who only cares about the wins and making sure he does his part to help Neptunas get them and not about making the headlines for a star performance, said: "There was a good game plan by the coaches.

"It's a good thing the plan worked and we didn't make a lot of mistakes. We started the game aggressively on both ends, offensively and defensively. We played fast and aggressively and kept it for the rest of the game."

Butkevicius is averaging 12.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists for Neptunas in Europe, who right now appear to be a team that can make it to the Final Four and challenge for the title. He also looks like a player that can start making his mark for the national team.

And there is a very good chance he'll hear plenty of cheers, too, because Lithuania's first home game in the World Cup Qualifiers on November 26 will be in Klaipeda, a port city in the country where the Baltic Sea meets the Danė River. 

"The people in Klaipeda really love basketball," he said to FIBA.basketball. "I think we can expect a full arena of passionate, emotional fans, who will create an excellent atmosphere in the Qualifiers."

It's great news for fans in Klaipeda that they'll be able to cheer their favorite son in a Lithuania jersey. Just as sweet for them, and the player himself, is that fans will have an opportunity to watch Butkevicius a lot more this season with Neptunas.