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A 4-3 record to begin the season was certainly not what the Cavaliers anticipated.

They currently sit just seventh in the Eastern Conference, while the rival Celtics and Magic have combined to lose just two games. Talk has already begun circulating that this Cavalier team is overrated, that they can’t compete with some of the best the NBA has to offer.

Ultimately it is too early to make that assumption, although the Cavaliers have looked sluggish out of the gates, especially offensively.

They are scoring just 94.4 points per game this season, compared to the 100.3 they put up during the 2008-09 campaign. They have seen a drop in team field goal percentage, free throw percentage and offensive rebounding. It has all contributed to the less than spectacular start. But on a veteran-laden team like the Cavaliers patience continues to be a virtue.

“We have a lot of resolve,” said Shaquille O’Neal after the team lost to Chicago on Thursday. ”The three games that we have lost we’ve pretty much beat ourselves by what we’re not doing. So once we master that and master the excerpts from the book then we’ll be fine.”

O’Neal is beginning to master the Cavaliers offense, shooting 17-27 over the past three games. His teammates appear to be adjusting well to his presence, including Daniel Gibson.

Gibson was an afterthought a year ago. A shooter who had lost his confidence. The hero of the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals shot just 38 percent from the three-point line during the regular season and was a non-factor throughout much of the 2009 postseason. Fast-forward to this season, where the fourth-year prop has found a place in coach Mike Brown’s rotation.

“You can see the maturity that he has gained on the floor and it’s translated into him doing some nice things for us,” said Brown. ”It also helps with the way his game is to have a guy like Shaq on the floor or a guy like LeBron on the floor because he catches and shoots real well.”

He has scored in double-digits in four of the team’s seven games and is shooting 50 percent from the three-point line. With all the focus that teams put on LeBron James, Gibson should get plenty of open shot attempts this season.

James has been nothing short of heroic to begin his seventh season with the Cavaliers. Coming off an MVP season, the 24-year-old has improved his numbers in rebounds, assists and field goal percentage.

Maybe the only blemish on James’ season so far is the 4.1 turnovers he is averaging, fourth-highest in the league. Much of that may be due to the new faces on the team, which has led to mass amounts of miscommunication. One of those new faces is Jamario Moon.

Moon has been a major disappointment since joining the Cavaliers. He is averaging just 3.7 points per game, nearly half of what he scored a season ago. His lack of scoring is partly to blame on Mike Brown.

Brown is still juggling with his rotation, leading to odd minutes for Moon. In the first three games of the season he played nearly 16 minutes a night, but has averaged just 6.3 since. The result has been a lack of rhythm for the athletic forward.

Moon and the rest of the Cavaliers still have a long way to go, said Brown.

“But while we are getting better we are capable of winning a lot of games because we are a pretty good team,” Brown said. ”But at the end of the day we have to understand that we have to play with a sense of urgency for 48 minutes.”

With many games ahead of them before the playoffs arrive, the Cavaliers have time to improve and gel as a team. Until then they may continue to go through spurts of ugly play, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“We need to fight through the lumps that we’re taking and if we do it will make us stronger at the end of the day,” said Brown.