It's time for another Rate-a-Nate, in which our readers grade the performance of the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. We've run two of these so far this season -- one at the start, and the other just as the Blazers' string of major injuries was unfolding. In the first poll, Nate drew a 5.4 rating on a scale of 1 to 10; in the second, he had slipped to a 4.9.

Here's your chance to weigh in again on Mr. Sonic's Portland performance. We'll post the results in our left sidebar when he have a decent number of responses:

UPDATE, 12:01 p.m.: With 37 votes cast, Nate's averaging a 6.6 -- quite an improvement over his earlier numbers. Fans must like him better when he's guiding less talent to a respectable performance than when he's coaching an overly deep roster and getting less-than-championship-caliber play.