While the 2019-20 squad did not make this list of the five greatest Duke basketball defensive teams under Mike Krzyzewski — way too early for that — the current Blue Devils’ play through four games is the inspiration for this list. Put another way, sometime between now and April, this season’s collection of lockdown Duke defenders have a shot to become the reason for a tweak to this list.
But what does it take to be one of these five bucket-denying, havoc-creating juggernauts? Well, stats — blocks, steals, points allowed, etc. — obviously weigh heavily on a team’s overall defensive rating (grading those that made the cut here on a 100-point scale).