Amar’e Stoudemire will once again train with Hakeem Olajuwon this summer

Amar’e Stoudemire spent some time training with Hall of Fame big man Hakeem Olajuwon last summer, in hopes of developing more of a post game that would help him coexist alongside Carmelo Anthony in the Knicks starting lineup.

Stoudemire was a nice contributor for New York when healthy, but knee injuries limited him at both the beginning and the end of the year, to the point where he was barely able to play a few minutes off the bench in the postseason.

Stoudemire will once again work out with Olajuwon this summer, in hopes of improving even more defensively and in the post.

From Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York:

Stoudemire will continue to build on the post-up moves and defensive maneuvers he learned from Olajuwon last summer. The big reasons behind the collaboration were: (1) to give the Knicks a low-post presence, allowing Chandler to be the go-to pick-and-roller; and (2) to improve the spacing between Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, who had tended to crowd the court in the midrange area.

At this point, Stoudemire’s health needs to be the primary concern. He showed he could mesh with this Knicks team, although he did so in a reserve role after not returning to the lineup until the first of the year.

Still, averages of 14.2 points and five rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game were more than solid considering the injury issues, and additional time with Olajuwon working to improve from a skill standpoint certainly couldn’t hurt.