SHIPP DOCKED FOR THE SEASON SLOW RECOVERY FROM HIP SURGERY BENCHES FORWARD.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Josh Shipp didn't think he was ready to return to the basketball court but at the encouragement of UCLA coach Ben Howland and his mother, Deborah Shipp, he played in the Pac-10 opener against Stanford.

Shipp, who was recovering from September hip surgery, played in three more games and played quite well. He was starting and even played a season-high 32 minutes, scored 10 points and had seven rebounds against Arizona State on Saturday. He averaged 11.3 points per game.

But Shipp was playing through pain and it finally became unbearable. Shipp, a promising sophomore forward, has decided to sit out the rest of the season. He will neither play nor practice.

``It's been something that's been lingering in my mind for awhile,'' Shipp said at Tuesday's news conference. ``For the Stanford and Cal games, I really didn't feel comfortable, but I wanted to go out there and try and help the team get a win. It was just real sore and painful in those two games. I tried to go again last weekend and I just decided I couldn't do it the whole year. There was just too much pain."

Howland, Shipp, and Deborah Shipp met with Dr. Carlos Guanche, who performed the surgery, Tuesday morning and all agreed it was best for Shipp to stop playing. He will attend practice, but only as a bystander, and is not to do much for 2 months.

With Deborah Shipp in the back of the room, Howland thanked Josh Shipp for trying to return and applauded his desire to help. UCLA will petition the NCAA for a medical hardship year for Shipp. If it's not granted, he'll have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

``His pain levels are just unacceptable, just too much to handle,'' Howland said. ``He has constant throbbing during every practice and every game, he's very sore every day, and the next morning he's obviously very stiff. And it's not getting better. That's the main thing, that's the concern. ' The bottom line is his long-term health.''

The 11th-ranked Bruins (13-2) are tied for first in the Pac-10 Conference with a 3-1 record. They've been playing well all year despite being ravaged with injuries but this one really hurts, especially with forward Cedric Bozeman still out. Who knows when - and if - Bozeman will return.

Shipp - who's 6-foot-5 - was asked to return for the Wagner and Sacramento State games to get some experience for conference but he didn't feel comfortable playing, so he didn't.

By countless accounts, Shipp had a remarkable summer league, which is why his injury was such a blow at the start of the season. Even though he returned and played well, he never regained that form.

``You could kind of tell,'' freshman Darren Collison said. ``His jump shot was still there but he was nowhere near what he was in summer league. He was phenomenal in the summer.''

Point guard Jordan Farmar knows Shipp's situation all too well. Farmar is playing on a sprained right ankle that he's rolled three times this year. He considered taking time off, too. Instead, he has his ankle tightly taped and spends a lot of time with his ankle in an ice bucket.

``He's my roommate and my best friend,'' Farmar said. ``We're together.''

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

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