Foxwell playing "best basketball of his life"

South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Owen Foxwell says he is in the form of his life, and is thriving under new coach Josh King.

Foxwell joined the Phoenix as an 18-year-old as a development player, and now the tenacious guard is becoming one of their most important players in NBL25.

So much so that from the moment King arrived as coach eight games into this season, he immediately dubbed Foxwell one of his guys, and the results have been stunning.

In the 16 games now with King in charge, the Phoenix have won 12 to sit fourth and Foxwell is delivering 7.7 points and 3.1 assists, but his impact is about much more than the numbers.

Foxwell's hounding and desperate defence is becoming a key to what South East Melbourne are doing.

"It feels great and we got it done early, and I feel like at the moment I'm playing the best basketball I've played in my life," Foxwell said.

"I feel really comfortable in this system, Josh has done a great job of letting me flourish and I'm playing really good basketball at the moment.

"I can see myself continuing to improve and I'm not a finished product yet like Josh says, and I never want to be. But the way I'm progressing is really positive and being here is a good place to get that done."

The Phoenix confirmed Foxwell's two-year contract extension on Saturday night during the 102-89 win at the State Basketball Centre against the New Zealand Breakers, where again Foxwell was instrumental in limiting Parker Jackson-Cartwright to 12 points on 5/11 shooting.

With South East Melbourne currently without Derrick Walton Jr with a hamstring injury, Foxwell's role has increased. While he's a capable offensive player including 12 points against the Breakers, it's at the defensive end he always focuses on.

"I take immense pride in my defence and ever since I came in here that was a point of difference for me," Foxwell said.

"I asked myself what could get me on the court and make me standout, and it's the defensive end.

"When I'm on the floor I want to be the guy who's playing the hardest on the defensive end, if the ball's on the floor I want to be the first one on it and Josh prioritises that type of play style so I'm going to continue to do that.

"Obviously I still feel like I have heaps of improvement on the defensive end to make so I just have to clean up some little things but I do take a lot of pride on that end of the floor."

Foxwell is now in his fourth season with the Phoenix and with two more years guaranteed now beyond NBL25, he couldn’t be happier to be remaining with the club where he's done so much of his growing up already.

He came into this season on the back of a starring role in the Eltham Wildcats winning a historic NBL1 South championship alongside Angus Glover, now is emerging all the time as a standout NBL player and wouldn’t want to do it anywhere but South East Melbourne.

"The support that I've gotten ever since I was a young kid and just 18 years old when I first came in this building has been immense," Foxwell said.

"It's been constant support all the way through from the fans to the front office, every single coach that's come through here so far as well. I'm really excited to continue to keep building with Josh."