Duke basketball: The five greatest defensive teams under Coach K

• Team’s top five defenders: Shelden Williams, Chris Duhon, Sean Dockery, Daniel Ewing, Luol Deng
• 65.0 points allowed per game
• 40.7 opponents’ field goal percentage
• 9.2 steals per game
• 6.5 blocks per game:
• Defensive grade: 96.0

Unfortunately, the 2003-04 Blue Devils squandered a four-point lead across the final two minutes against UConn, ending their season on a low note defensively and one win shy of a chance to play for a national title (lost the ACC Tournament Championship to Maryland in overtime).

But the season as a whole was a display of all the ingredients to a monumental defensive unit. Other than sophomore guard J.J. Redick, who more than made up for his shortcomings on defense with his lights-out performances on the other end, Duke’s primary starters each possessed at least a hint of defensive wizardry.

For starters, take sophomore big man Shelden Williams, who won the NABC DPOY award the following two seasons and whose number ended up next to Redick’s in Cameron Indoor Stadium’s rafters due in large part to his shot-blocking expertise.

Left and right, “The Landlord” evicted opponents’ inside shot attempts. Williams’ broad shoulders and eye for opponents behind on their rents led to his owning Duke’s record for blocked shots in a career (422) and Duke’s top three season individual block totals (2004-06) in addition to his name appearing all over the list of Duke’s top individual block totals in a game.

Partnering with Williams during the 2003-04 campaign, though, was arguably the most aggressively speedy perimeter defender in program history: senior guard Chris Duhon, who was always willing to dive into a crowd for a loose ball with seemingly no regard for his well-being. And the Slidell, La., native was magical at intercepting passes (2.2 steals per game that season).

The primary supporting defensive staff consisted of freshman forward Luol Deng, a lengthy athlete with a high defensive IQ; junior guard Daniel Ewing, who pitched in with crafty takeaways in key moments; and sophomore guard Sean Dockery, a feisty, fiery competitor from Chicago who despite coming off the bench and playing only 15.5 minutes per game managed to come away with 1.5 steals per game (an incredible team-leading 3.9 per 40 minutes).

But now for the first group of Blue Devils on this ranking — and the first in program history — to have cut down April nets, needing every last ounce of their energy on defense to pave the way to “Wish Granted” bliss…