As a UCLA Bruins fan, Darren Collison’s recent success is very exciting. As an NBA fan, it is rather surprising and unexpected.

After being taken by the New Orleans Hornets with the 21st pick in last year’s draft, Collison’s role was immediately evident: back up all-world point guard Chris Paul. He was supposed to play 8-10 minutes per game and not screw anything up. Maybe even be a spark.

Collison was not supposed to be carrying the Hornets during their playoff push, but a knee injury to Paul has forced the rookie into the spotlight. He hasn’t disappointed. In fact, he has been arguably as good as Paul, averaging 24 points, 9.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.4 steals in the last 5 games, three of them New Orleans victories. And this for a team that has very little punch outside of David West.

Where is this coming from?

After watching him play four years in college, Collison’s production is honestly shocking. I didn’t think he was that good. At UCLA, he never quite lived up to the expectations, especially at the offensive end. Senior year he only averaged 14.4 points and 4.7 assists. He was never able to completely take over a game, and he seemed, for want of a better word, guardable. I thought that he would be able to hang defensively in the pros, but I assumed he would lack requisite strength/moves to be a reliable offensive option. Hey, you know what they say about assuming…

So how has Collison been this effective? Please help me out because I’m baffled, and I’m sure that New Orleans is also pleasantly surprised. I’ve unfortunately been unable to watch any recent Hornets games due to their lack of national TV coverage, so all I can do is surmise.

The only explanation I can muster is that the Hornets offense is conducive to point guard effectiveness. New Orleans gives you a steady diet of pick and roll basketball, and little else. Even though the pick and roll has become a staple of every team’s playbook, the Hornets employ it far more often than most. Furthermore, they run it almost exclusively with the point guard rather than with all of their wing players, giving Collison (or whomever) more opportunity to make decisions. So this could be system-based production, such as the quarterback stats at Texas Tech, instead of purely skill-based production.

Still, there’s no way Smush Parker would be putting up those sorts of numbers. There must be something about Collison that translates especially well to the NBA. Or perhaps watching Paul has given him better understanding of how to attack a defense. Or perhaps he’s somehow improved drastically since last year.

I will reserve final judgment until I can watch a few games, but I must reiterate how impressed and amazed I am with his recent outburst. Sports always manages to provide unlikely heroes.