Mike Woodson encouraged Amar'e Stoudemire to work with Hakeem Olajuwon this offseason.

"He helped me a lot," Stoudemire said of Olajuwon. "A lot of moves that he has really, really translate to my game. To now develop a post game is going to be remarkable for me. It's going to catch a lot of my opponents off guard and it's going to be a great year for me.

"I have the IQ to implement this and learn fast, but it's not easy. There's a lot of detail that goes into it. He's very, very swift with his footwork, and he's very agile also, at (age) 50 still. It's great to learn from him. This is a great opportunity because you never how long he's going to be able to do this. So while I'm young and can still learn from one of the best, (I'm) very blessed to be a part of it."

Woodson and Olajuwon played together with the Rockets.

"Coach Woodson wanted to develop my post game and he knew I had it in me," Stoudemire said. "He called up a good friend Hakeem and Hakeem said, 'sure no problem.' 

"We both play a similar position. He's an athletic center and I'm an athletic forward, but he's played as a four.  He's known as a basketball player. Same as myself being able to adapt to any environment and play to the best of my ability, so to learn from him is awesome."