After the release of Josh Smith, the Detroit Pistons played themselves back into playoff contention (in part because the bottom half of the East is awful) thanks to improved production from Greg Monroe and, more notably, the enigmatic Brandon Jennings. In the absence of Smith, Jennings averaged 19.8 points and 7.0 assists per game while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from beyond the arc -- all those marks, save for the assists, would have blown away his career previous career highs. It seemed as though Stan Van Gundy, armed with more ideal personnel for his system, had both salvaged the Piston’s season and his point guard’s lackluster career. Then Jennings went down and things, once again, looked bleak for Detroit.

Enter D.J. Augustin.

In the five games since Jennings was lost for the season, the diminutive point guard has been posting otherworldly numbers (though the Pistons as a team are just 2-3). Augustin is topping Jennings in nearly every category, averaging 21.8 points, 9.2 assists while shooting 52.2 percent from the field and an absurd 45.8 percent. And those numbers include an 0-of-7 stinker against the (streaking?) Sixers.

Granted, five games is just five games, but the boost in performance from both Jennings and Augustin speaks to the efficacy of Van Gundy’s system if you surround capable point guards with the coach’s preferred personnel. After all, Jameer Nelson, a blue-collar player without an elite skill, flourished under Van Gundy, even earning an All-Star appearance in 2009. And Nelson’s past success is a key reason why we should expect Augustin -- whose game is fairly similar to Nelson’s -- to continue producing some sterling stat lines.

After all, there’s no real mystery to why these point guards can experience such success in Van Gundy’s system. Despite the presence of post players like Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe, who all either excel as a roll man, low post scorer or both, Van Gundy’s preferred style is actually built for any steady ballhandler to take the reigns and pick apart opposing defenses. Everything about what Van Gundy wants offensively -- the spacing, the high volume of pick-and-rolls and the presence of a capable low post scorer to share some of the offensive burden-- lends to it being an ideal spot for most NBA guards with an attacking mindset and an accurate jumpshot.

The mystery of this situation shouldn’t really be around why players like Jennings, Nelson and now Augustin are flourishing under Van Gundy, but instead why Augustin, in particular, needs situations like this to be at his best. Very few players in the league have seen such an up-and-down career. In both Toronto and Indiana, Augustin didn’t even look like a player capable of donning an NBA jersey. Yet during the latter stages of Augustin’s time in Charlotte, his revival in Chicago and now explosion in Detroit, we’ve seen a player that not only looks like he belongs in the league, but is perhaps causing fans like us to wonder if he can be a starter on a good team.

Most of the time, the reason for such extremes boils down to fit. Augustin’s game needs a very particular setting for him to become self-actualized as a player. In Indiana and, to a certain degree, Toronto, Augustin was thrust into the role of caretaker, tasked with running plays and mostly (at least with the Pacers) spotting up on the perimeter. Asking a player who is light years better with the ball in hands to idly sit on the perimeter and watch his teammates go to work is setting him up for failure. But simply giving Augustin the ball and having him attack in pick-and-rolls doesn’t solve everything.

During his time with the Bulls and especially now in the absence of Jennings, Augustin was giving another valuable thing for an NBA player: freedom. Augustin is a basketball jitterbug, who excels when giving the time and autonomy to utilize numerous pick-and-rolls in a possession and wear opposing defenders out. In a sense, Augustin needs to be “the man” tasked with both scoring and creating and not worried about holding the ball too much in the presence of another perimeter shot creator. And this ‘jitterbug’ effect takes it’s toll on opposing defenders.

In the this NBA era of ‘big data’ where numbers and strategic breakdowns are flooding every corner of the internet, it’s often easy to overlook the human element. Tracking a player -- especially a small, shifty point guard like Augustin who is constantly changing speeds and directions -- though multiple pick-and-rolls is both exhausting and annoying. In four or five minute stretches, or the timeframe players like Augustin get when they come off the bench, it’s a bit easier to handle.

When you stretch that out to 36 minutes -- the amount Augustin is averaging sans Jennings (and just six minutes more than he was in Chicago) -- it requires a lot more effort. As the game goes on, most opposing defenders tasked with guarding Augustin are probably a little punchdrunk from either slamming into Drummond and Monroe or having Augustin quickly change gears and go opposite the screen en route to the basket. How this manifests itself is hard to quantify (though Augustin shoots substantially better in the second and third quarters this season, per NBA.com data) as mistakes in on-ball defense can haunt a defense in a variety of ways.

By joining forces with Van Gundy, Augustin seems primed to have a career-defining year. And because of it, the Pistons’ season may once again be saved by the unexpected ascent of another perplexing point guard.