Ex-Rebel Beck getting noticed

Romel Beck's run at the FIBA Americas Championship is over, but his performance left a lasting impression with several NBA scouts who watched him the past nine days.

The former UNLV guard led Mexico in scoring, averaging 20.3 points. He developed a sore calf muscle late in the tournament, scoring two points in a loss to Canada and not playing in Mexico's final game, a 101-91 win over Venezuela on Thursday.

But his efforts in the first six games got the Sacramento Kings interested in talking to Beck about coming to training camp.

"I hope I opened some eyes," Beck said. "It wasn't motivation for me or anything. I was just trying to help my team win."

Beck, who played this past year in Venezuela, reportedly has an offer to play in Italy this fall. He's also contemplating playing in Spain. But if an NBA team made a serious offer, he would have to listen.

"Sure," he said. "That's every kid's dream, to play in the NBA."

Mexico coach Nolan Richardson said he's surprised the 6-foot-4-inch Beck has remained under the NBA's radar.

"Romel is a remarkable basketball player," Richardson said. "You can use him in every position across the basketball court. The more I watch him, the more I don't understand why he is not playing in the NBA. I'm hoping that someone was able to see his ability and will give him a chance. He has those types of credentials, as far as I'm concerned."

• EMPTY HOUSE -- Maybe things will pick up for today's semifinals and Sunday's gold-medal game after the first two rounds played to a sea of empty seats inside the Thomas & Mack Center.

Then again, maybe not, given the price of tickets for this weekend.

FIBA is charging $50 for a balcony seat for Sunday's gold-medal game, and lower-level seats are $100, $300 or $600 -- even though nothing is really at stake, since both participants will have secured an Olympic berth. For today's semifinals, ticket prices aren't much cheaper, with a balcony seat at $30 and lower-level tickets at $60, $150 and $300.

Even the presence of NBA superstars on Team USA hasn't attracted a decent crowd. The average attendance per session for the first nine sessions was 6,175 in the 18,500-seat arena.

• CANADA'S FUTURE -- Canada isn't playing in today's semifinals, but its Olympic dream remains alive. Because they finished fifth, the Canadians get one more chance to qualify for next year's Olympics when they participate in a tournament in July 2008. Three spots to the Olympics will come from that event.

"Realistically, based on the experience stage of our team and other factors, we knew that top five gets us where we wanted," coach Leo Rautins said. "We're going to be a year older, better, stronger and bigger next year."