ATHENS (Greece) - Casademont Zaragoza big man Jason Thompson brought up a famous quote by the late Kobe Bryant as he walked off the court following his team's Quarter-Final win over Iberostar Tenerife Thursday night at the Nikos Galis OAKA hall.

"Dylan [Ennis] has a pair of Kobe shoes and like Kobe, rest in peace, said: 'job's not finished'," Thompson said.

The proud owner of the sneakers in question, Dylan Ennis, was standing a few meters away praising the good job that Thompson and the rest of his Zaragoza teammates did on a night that Ennis himself struggled with his shooting.

"This tournament is about getting the win, no matter how it looks," the Canadian guard said.

"This is not going to be a tournament that is won by one or two guys, you are going to need a team effort."

Zaragoza are certainly going to need all hands on deck when they take on AEK in the second Semi-Final on Friday and Ennis is up for the challenge.

It's just an honor to be back on the basketball court and to be competing for a trophy with everything that is going on in the world and everything that has changed - Tyrese Rice

"We have nothing to lose, they [AEK] are the home team and people regard them as the favorite," he said.

"We've always been the underdog and we feed off of that. Anything can happen in a tournament like this, we just have to come out and play our game."

The winner earns a ticket to the Final and a shot at the title that bears a special significance which is not lost on any player who competed at the Final 8 in Athens.

There are no fans in the stands and the health protocols are a new experience everyone is adapting to but, when everything is said and done, the Basketball Champions League will be the only pan-European competition to crown a champion for the 2019-20 season.

"Honestly, it's just an honor to be back on the basketball court and to be competing for a trophy with everything that is going on in the world and everything that has changed," AEK's Tyrese Rice said.

"[This competition] means a lot to me and to have another chance at winning it [after playing in the 2019 Final 4 with Brose Bamberg] is a great opportunity.

"I am happy to be here, happy to be on a team that will hopefully compete to be in the final and go from there," the veteran point guard added.

The significance of the occasion and the pandemic-related challenges players and teams had to tackle in order to return to the court make every other minor difficulty pale by comparison.

"Usually you have a day in between to prepare but they [AEK] have the same problem, they also have a small amount of time to prepare for us," Thompson said.

"When you are in big games like this it's good to open up and not be as tense, and this is the reason we are here.

"Everyone here loves the game of basketball, everyone smiles and when the lights are on you just need to play your game and help your team win."